Trafalgar Law x OC - The Death
by e-bartkowiak
Summary: Soon after entering the New World, the Surgeon finally meets his Death - an intriguing woman who can understand him better than anyone else. But the question is: will he tame her or will he be tamed?
1. Chapter 1

A gray-eyed man turned a page of his thick, medical book and – without looking away from printed words – reached his slim, tattooed hand for a white mug which stood on a big and well organized desk. He was already in the middle of the page when he took a sip of his coffee and frowned at its coldness, only now looking at the mug. The man let go of a slightly irritated sigh and put the book on the desk. He stood up from his comfy swivel chair and walked to the door – the only part of walls not obscured by bookcases.

The man walked down a long corridor and each of his steeps echoed from metal walls. Going one level up and through another corridor he passed few men. Unlike him each of them was dressed in a white boiler suit and each greeted him with a simple 'Captain'. Eventually the man reached a spacious mess room, greeted his subordinates with a simple nod and made a straight line to the galley, to a coffeemaker, passing a wall decorated with wanted posters. Some of them were new, some were old, but the biggest part showed his own pictures right above his name – Trafalgar Law.

Law smiled when he noticed that the coffeemaker was on and its pot was almost full. He poured out his cold coffee into a sink and refilled it with a hot portion. Going back to the mess deck he lifted the mug to his lips, taking in the strong aroma, but his attention was taken away by a happy call from the door.

"Captain!" Law's subordinate approached him in few, bouncy steps. This full of live boy with short, brown hair and freckles all over his round face couldn't have more than seventeen years. Just like others, he was dressed in a white boiler suit, but while others looked baggy on their owners, his suit was plainly too big. "Next island on the horizon," he announced quickly, with an unconcealed joy in his voice and on his face, "and it looks it is an autumn one." He barely ended this sentence and all present crewmates cheered in happiness. It was understandable – each island they'd passed for the last month was a summer one or there was a summer and almost whole crew came from much, much colder regions. "It's rather big and mountainous, but we haven't spotted any buildings yet," the boy continued when the cheering quieted, "but there's a strange ship drifting near it."

"What do you mean by 'strange'?" Law lifted one eyebrow and took another sip of his bitter drink. After seeing more than a half of the Grand Line not much things deserved to be labeled like that. On the other hand only the fact the ship was drifting made it a bit suspicious.

"It's a ruin, but rather new, as if something destroyed it just few days ago," the boy explained rapidly, his good mood didn't fade even a little despite his ominous words. "Whatever made it look like that probably lives on that island or near it and Flynn asks if he should align to this ship or go straight to the island."

Law had to swallow a little of coffee before answering. "Please tell him to align - we will look at this ship first."

"Aye-aye captain." The boy saluted with a wide swing of his whole arm and turned around to walk toward the door.

"And Jess," Law called him and he turned around once again, "no more coffee for you," Law ordered calmly, looking at the boy from over the rim of his mug. Law's chest resounded with a quiet chuckle at Jess's reaction – his wide smile turned upside down - but unlike Law, the others openly laughed at the miserable boy.

"Aye-aye captain," Jess repeated without previous vigor and sulkily left the mess deck. Law watched him, casually sipping his own coffee, but after a while he decided to follow Jess to the control room – he wanted to see this ship.

* * *

The abandoned ship was a little bigger than their own submarine. Everything was destroyed, but not old and they all agreed that at night and in a slight fog it could act as a great scenery for a horror story. Three of five masts were broken in half and were lying pathetically among torn sails, but the other two were completely shattered and all what was left were big splinters scattered all over the deck, just like pieces of their sails, and almost all were stained with blood.

Blood was everywhere. All over the deck, on each wall. It was already brown and its musty stench was making some of Heart Pirates sick. Those with stronger stomachs jumped on the deck and searched the ship, looking for cargo, tools, maps, ropes, anything what might come in handy. But all they found were smashed doors, shattered windows, bullet holes and claw marks on all surfaces, and a big hole in the upper deck, which was covered by one of sails. Anything they found was somehow destroyed – crushed, fractured, served or burnt. Everything was gone, even corpses – the only sign that a living being ever walked on this ship was an omnipresent blood.

* * *

For the next hour, the yellow submarine was swimming around the island as the pirates were looking for any town or village, but all they found were two buildings on top of a high, limestone cliff. Giving up all hopes to find anything more, they swam to a small cove to the south from the said cliff.

Some of pirates decided to take care of minor repairs on their ship, some walked up a stream to refill their fresh water supplies and others started to gather wild berries and look for something more satiating. But Law - with an indispensable company of his polar bear friend, Bepo – took an unhurried walk to the top of the cliff.

Both buildings were made from stone and dark logs, were covered with a dark shingle and both had a stone chimney, but only from the closer one flew a barely visible smoke. It was a two storey house with a sloping roof, a wide and clean terrace and a balcony above it. As Law and his first mate came closer, they could hear a laughter - a children's laughter. They stepped on the terrace, passed two simple benches and knocked at a door made from light wood. It was almost immediately opened by a little, laughing boy. He had black hair long enough to partly cover his big eyes which instantly filled with surprise and horror.

"Miki?" A similar looking woman walked into the corridor from an adjacent room and as soon as her eyes fell on Law she made exactly the same expression, but unlike her – probably – son, she didn't froze in place. "Miki!" she shouted with horror clear in her voice. In a split of second she reached the door and tried to close it, but her eyes widened even more, when Law didn't allow her. "Emil!" she swept away the boy and, holding him tightly to her chest, ran further inside the corridor and up an open staircase. "Emil! Pirates are here!"

Law glanced at Bepo, who returned this gesture and they casually walked inside the house, slowly following the runaway. They reached the wide entrance to the adjacent room. It was a bright and spacious living room. In the middle stood an oval coffee table and around it were two burgundy armchairs and a dark brown sofa. All were turned toward a stone fireplace and Law could sworn some old guy was hiding behind the further armchair.

"Won't let me sleep," was a murmur from the staircase. Law and Bepo looked in that direction to notice one pair of white feet visible between wooden stairs. They were sticking out from under a pair of baggy, black trousers. Next appeared a much oversized hoodie in a color of brick. "Third ship this month – who would guess," the tired voice resounded once again, right before guests could see a mane of short, black hair. Their host was scratching the back of his head, giving them a great view on his white hand with a membranes between lean fingers, but - unlike all fishmen - they were reaching only to the middle of each digit. The boy turned around on the landing and they finally could see his face. It was a little bit sleepy, smooth and white, with a yellow spot with black outline across a small nose finishing a look similar to a Moorish Idol. But the most unique were his eyes…

"Captain," the furry first mate leaned over Law's arm, "is he…?"

"Blind, yes Bepo," he finished for him, looking straight into those pale gray orbs without pupils. They were nice, without any deformation and Law had absolutely no idea what could had cased the blindness.

"Please excuse them," the boy asked calmly, waving his hand toward the upper floor, "barely a day before yesterday they escaped from pirate's captivity." He finally came down the stairs and stopped right in front Law, whom he reached only to the unshaven chin. "So, how can I help you, gentlemen?" he asked with, what seemed to be a genuine kindness with a bit of curiosity and, to Law's surprise, 'looked' straight into his dark gray eyes.

"We would appreciate a bit of information, Emil-ya," Law guessed it was the right name. "For example – how long does it take for Log Pose to switch?" he asked in a kind tone. There was no reason to intimidate this boy – he seemed to be willing to help.

"Thirty two days," was an instant answer, as if everyone who came here asked this question first. Emil, without a tiniest fail, passed them and went straight to the living room.

"That's long," Bepo commented, he seemed to be disappointed by this information, but Law could hear a note of satisfaction. No wonder – Bepo had already liked this island and its temperature.

"I know, but what can I do?" Emil asked, walking to the fireplace and throwing one log into a fading fire. "Mister Wermin, please go upstairs and tell Terrence to get out of the wardrobe." Just as Law thought, an old man appeared from behind the armchair. He mumbled something in agreement and quickly left the room, time after time throwing Law and Bepo nervous glances.

Only now, looking back after the old man, Law noticed flags decorating the wall on both sides of the entrance. Eleven black flags with different Jolly Rogers, eight colorful flags from merchant ships and two white, marine flags - Law knew only few of them. "You have an interesting collection, Emil-ya," he commented, looking back at his host, who was already sitting in one armchair. Law decided to follow the lead and took another armchair, while Bepo sat on the sofa.

Law quickly glanced around, looking for other interesting artifacts. To the right from the fireplace stood an old piano with a gramophone. Next to it, on the wall opposite to the entrance were shelves filled with records and wooden sculptures of various animals. Under a big window on the last wall, which separated them from the terrace, stood a wide, antic commode on top of which stood a crystal vase with a bunch of sunflowers and a human skull. A young adult male skull as Law didn't fail to notice.

"I have a more upstairs, in my bedroom, but only those are presents," Emil explained with a friendly smile. The last traces of sleepiness or tiredness were already gone from his rather pretty face. "I believe they all are hanged by the right side," he added with a quiet chuckle.

"If those are presents," Bepo started, blinking rapidly his beady eyes, "then what are those upstairs?" he finished, tilting cutely his round head.

"Trophies," Emil answered with a bit devious smirk. Law smiled a little - this boy seemed to be interesting. A half-fishman living alone on a big island; kind and polite, but probably only as long as he didn't dislike you; most certainly blind, but with a way to 'see' his surroundings - probably haki - and strong. Emil surely was strong, but… how much? Law frowned a little – there was something more… Something out of place in this boy, something just a little outside Law's reach.

"Do you happen to collect Log Poses as well, Emil-ya?" he asked, closely watching the boy's reactions – he wanted to find this missing piece.

"Yes, I do." Emil's smirk widened a little bit. He stretched the last vowel making this simple sentence sound like a question, as if he was encouraging Law to continue on this path.

"Then could you exchange one of them with ours, Emil-ya? Preferably one which is in your possession longer than thirty two days," Law asked, still kindly, but this boy started to play on his nerves – Law preferred to be the one who leaded the conversation.

"You know, you're only eleventh captain who thought of that," Emil said with a short, but truly happy laugh, "and I'm glad you did, mister Trafalgar, otherwise Monica would be disappointed," he added with a chuckle.

"Monica?" Bepo once again tilted his head out of curiosity, "who's Monica?"

"Eleven year old girl," Emil explained, 'looking' at the bear, "and mister Trafalgar's biggest fan," he finished, directing his white finger at the captain.

"Would you be kind enough to answer my question, Emil-ya?" Law asked with a small, dark undertone – he didn't like to be ignored. It was noticed by Bepo, whose round ears flicked a little, but Emil was completely unfazed – he didn't notice it or ignored.

"Depends," a smirk which accompanied this word send a clear message – this boy was going to provoke him – Trafalgar Law, The Surgeon of Death. "You will wait on this island four days and then take me and my six guests to the next island - Floris." There was an angry chirp behind Emil's neck and a small head of a sparrow stuck out from within his hood. Emil snorted, completely loosing his whole 'I'm-deadly-serious' façade. "Us and this little guy," he added, pointing at the bird.

"Please explain to me," Law leaned forward, resting his chin on entwined hands, "why should I agree instead of killing you and taking a Log Pose?" he said in his darkest tone, which made Bepo glance at him.

"Because Log Poses are well hidden and you won't be able to find them without my help," Emil answered calmly, leaning forward just like Law. He was 'looking' at the captain as if he wasn't blind.

"We can always… persuade you, Emil-ya." Anyone would ran away and hide in some dark corner under the thon he said this sentence. Anyone, but Emil who stayed totally unfazed.

"Threats against my person won't work, mister Trafalgar," he answered calmly. Corners of his lips traveled mere millimeters up.

"What about your guests?" Law mirrored this facial expression, but decided to go a little further to his trademark smirk. With the corner of his eye he noticed Bepo was looking back and forth between them. He was nervous. Why was he nervous? Were his animal instincts telling him something Law didn't notice?

"Go ahead," Emil answered. Not even a single muscle twitched when he said that. He was serious. He was encouraging Law to go upstairs and massacre his quests. Law gracefully stood up and turned around to the doorway, ready to play with those unfortunate souls upstairs. He reached out his hand toward Bepo, for his nodachi.

"Bepo, do you like summer?" Emil casually asked as if their conversation hadn't had a place.

"Uhm…" the first mate looked at Law, unsure if he should answer, "no?"

"The only island with a stable magnetic field you can reach from here is Floris. Your submarine should reach it in two days, three at most." Emil lazily leaned against the backrest. "There's a summer right now, but it will end in six days," he turned his attention to Law while speaking two last words, "and if you didn't start to threaten me you would know I was going to pay you for transport and I still am. Now," Emil stood up, "I'm going to hunt something for a dinner." He stepped forward, stopping when he was shoulder to shoulder with Law, who showed absolutely no emotion. "I'm inviting you to accompany me and politely informing that if you decide to fulfill your threat I'll do my best to make your stay here a pain in your ass, mister Trafalgar," Emil finished with a wide smile and cheerful chuckle, as if he couldn't wait to fulfill his own threat. Then, he casually left the living room and soon the house.

"Captain…" Bepo pleaded and Law could feel two teary eyes drilling holes in the side of his face. Law's chest quivered shortly as a deep chuckle made its way outside his body. This boy indeed was interesting.

* * *

A/N: I tried the best I could, but my English is far away from perfect, so if you found any mistakes please let me know due PM so I can correct them. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

Bepo was fed up with summer. He didn't want to go to another summer island and was pretty sure he had lost some weight due to too much sweating. He wanted to wait those next four days, Emil mentioned, on this nice island – enjoy its pleasant climate, swim in its cool waters and catch awfully lot of fish. But Law was his captain and oldest friend – a man for whom Bepo would do anything.

Now, Bepo quietly followed Law, who without a word walked outside the living room. The bear gulped heavily when Law looked in the direction of the staircase - Bepo still could hope his captain would do as he wished.

"Don't worry Bepo," Law said with a chuckle and turned toward the exit. The bear let go a short sigh of relieve and trotted behind the man. Law opened the front door and stepped outside.

"The closest are deers," Emil started. He was sitting sideways on the left bench and tying his shoes. "Then are boars, few bears, snakes – very strong, but they won't get outside caves until night. And in the middle of the island are rabbits, my favorite - big, strong and fast, therefore funny to hunt and their meat is delicious." Emil stood up and quickly dusted his rear. "So, what would you like to hunt down, mister Trafalgar?"

"You, Emil-ya," Law answered casually – without a dark undertone nor a smug smile.

"With pleasure mister Trafalgar," Emil slightly bowed his head, smiling carelessly, "but if you allow, I'd like to fulfill my obligations of the host first."

"Then, I guess I'll have to satisfy myself with rabbits you mentioned, Emil-ya." Only now a smile crawled on Law's lips. Bepo knew this smile, it appeared every time Law found next piece to some kind of puzzle.

"As you wish," Emil bowed his head once again and turned around to step down the terrace. "Would you like to go to your ship first, mister Trafalgar?" He reached out his hand and - to Bepo's surprise - caught a short sword or rather a long dagger, which fell from the sky. There was a pleased caw, but all that flew down was the sparrow. Bepo growled, asking the little bird what was that, but he only chuckled in a way suitable to his species and sat on Emil's shoulder.

"I'd like to go down, Emil-ya," Law answered with pleased smile, following the boy. Well, Bepo wasn't surprised by this one – Emil was genuinely polite, wasn't really ordering Law and was going to somehow entertain him. If Emil provided Law some good medical books, he would probably be in heaven. Thinking about this - Emil could have medical books.

"Captain!" A happy voice reached them as Jess quickly approached them. "Captain! Everything was repaired!" he announced so rapidly it was hard to understand him, "Water refilled! Stan-san found a clearing with herbs!" He stopped only to take a very deep breath, but not bothering to stop waving his hands in all directions. "And we are ready to sail whenever Log Pose switch!"

"Jess, have you drunk any coffee since I forbidden it?" Law asked coldly.

The young boy blinked rapidly few times, completely dumfounded, and trotted in place. "No, I haven't Captain," he finally answered, still rather puzzled, "I haven't even touch it." Jess looked at Emil and pointed at him as if only now noticing him. "Who's that?"

"You can call me Emil." The fishman stepped forward and reached out his hand with a warm, friendly smile. "I believe I'll be your host for the next few days. Am I right mister Trafalgar?" Shaking Jess's hand, he turned toward the captain, waiting for his answer.

"Yes, indeed," Law somehow made this short agreement sound like a light warning. "Jess, inform the crew that we are going for a hunt and if any of them wants to join, should be ready as soon as we get down there."

"Aye-aye captain." Jess saluted widely, turned around and quickly ran down the hill. Not more that fifty yards away he tripped over a rock, but after a lot of shouting and flailing he managed to regain his balance.

"He ate coffban." Emil said with a chuckle, sniffing his hand - the same he exchanged with Jess. "It's a fruit which taste like banana and is full of caffeine."

"Then I guess he won't get a month of laundry duty." Law walked to Emil and took his hand. Captain looked at it in silence, straightening it's fingers while Emil and Bepo gave him a slightly puzzled looks. "Are you doing anything without a reason, Emil-ya?" Law asked, letting go of the hand and retaking his walk to the submarine. Bepo noticed that he once again wore the 'I've-found-next-piece' smile.

"Yes, some things I do are plainly ridiculous," Emil and Bepo ran a little to catch up with Law, but the boy walked side by side with the captain while the bear walked two steps behind, "but everything I do, I do because I want to. For example now I want to be a great host."

"We'll see that, Emil-ya," was all Law said and a salience fell upon them – it wasn't awkward, they walked right next to each other, unfettered, enjoying views and cool, salty air.

"Emil?" Bepo started unsurely, long after they passed the halfway to the yellow submarine.

"Yes, Bepo?" Emil turned around and gave the bear a warm, encouraging smile. Now he was going backwards, but as surely as just a moment earlier.

"How did you know our names?" the first mate asked, "You've never met us before and I didn't hear this woman to call our names so… How?" he finished tilting his round head.

Emil chuckled briefly before answering. "As I mentioned earlier, my little friend Monica is mister Trafalgar's big fan." He once again pointed at Law. "Every time I visit her, she drowns me in facts and rumors about Heart Pirates. The captain who wears a furry hat and a ridiculously long sword, bipedal bear as a first mate and a submarine – it wasn't hard to figure out who you are. In the worst case you would just correct me," he ended with a wave of his hand, dismissing a mere idea he could have been wrong.

Bepo glanced over his shoulder at Emil's house, back at their submarine and frowned slightly – it was at least three hundred yards. "How big is your range of kanbunshoku haki?"

"About two miles in every direction is top," Emil said as if this wasn't a big deal, "but I usually go with half a mile."

"What about busoshoku haki, Emil-ya?" Law asked without much interest in his tone.

"Not as good, but I'm not complaining." Emil once again turned around so now he wasn't going backwards. "And no Bepo, I can't use haoshoku," he added and the bear closed his mouth.

"Captain-chan!" A freakishly tall and lean man waved at them happily. He had black, gravity defying curls around an oval face adored by big, green eyes, a short nose and a mustache which looked like two small triangles just above red, full lips. He was wearing a pastel pink chef uniform, but instead of black pants and boots he had lacy stockings and heels. This okama was standing in front of a little group unloving Jess, Penguin and Shachi. But not more than a moment later he was standing right next to Emil. "And you must be Emil-chan," he said in a singsong voice and lifted the much smaller boy. "I'm Cheri, my little sweetie."

"H-hello Cheri," Emil stuttered with his cheeks in color of Cheri's uniform, "it's nice to meet you," he ended with a warm smile.

"Aww," Cheri immediately hugged him tightly and spun a few quick pirouettes, causing a wave of laughter from the half-fishman. "Captain-chan! This little sweetie is so cute! Can we keep him?"

"No, Christopher-ya," Law answered with a completely straight face, "and this answer won't change no mater how many times you ask," he added, passing the hugging pair and going to the rest of group. "I understand only you go on the hunt with us."

"Yes, Captain. They found something else to entertain themselves." Penguin pointed behind, in the direction of cove where the rest of the crew was. They were swimming, wrestling and generally fooling around - one was even making angels on a soft, almost white sand.

"Then I guess we can go," Law turned toward Cheri who was still holding their host. "Christopher-ya could you put Emil-ya down, so he can guide us to rabbits?"

"Yes, of course, Captain-chan." The okama placed Emil back on the ground, but he didn't forget to pet his head.

"Rabbits are roughly a mile away from here." Only now the pink hue disappeared from Emil's cheeks. "Do you want to walk there or run?"

"We are fully capable of running Emil-ya," Law said in serious tone.

"I understand," Emil said, put on his large hood and smiled broadly. "You've said you would like to hunt me, so I suggest a small game called 'try to catch me'."

"Three," Law started. Everyone chuckled or giggled, but no one moved.

"Two." Emil turned toward the tree line and began to run unhurriedly.

"One."

* * *

A/N: I probably should end it only after their hunt... but I wanted to update it...

Anyway, I hope you like Cheri and if you found any mistakes please let me know, English is not my first language and writing in it is hard :/


	3. Chapter 3

Law had to admit - Emil was fast, she was definitely fast, but it was her speeding which left half of his subordinates with their jaws on the ground – from the careless jog she jumped to the speed worth of cannonball in just a split of second. Emil reached the midway to the line of trees even before any of Heart Pirates started chasing her. The first to react was Law's most reliable minion – Bepo. The second was Jess on his caffeine rush. Penguin and Shachi glanced back at the captain to make sure he wanted them to fulfill his own job before joining the pursuit.

"Emil is an interesting little girl, don't you think Captain-chan?" Cheri giggled standing right next to his captain. Law glanced up at the taller man. He wasn't really surprised that this okama noticed Emil's gender so fast, while he realized it only on their way down from Emil's house.

"She is," Law admitted and decided to finally join the chase, before he would lost all of them from his sight. _Emil_ - it couldn't be her real name, just a nickname, but on the other hand she'd never said it was. Why was she hiding her gander? Was she even trying to do so? How strong was she? Was she as cold-blooded as he was? Would she do anything to stop him if not that 'I decided to be a great host' play? Was she merely bluffing? Law wanted to know. He wanted to know this mysterious being called Emil. He wanted to know if he could use her.

Emil's faint red hood and black pants were almost invisible between thick, dark trunks as she ran deeper and deeper into the autumn forest. Bepo's flashy jumpsuit was much better visible and was just few yards behind the hood. Then, in different places, but more or less in the same distance, were three white boiler suits. The next was pinkish cook's uniform. Cheri was occasionally throwing his legs in the air like a cancan dancer and constantly laughing his slightly creepy okama laugher. Law decided to stay in the back and watch them.

High speed, inhuman speeding, amazing agility and complete awareness of everything around made Emil a very difficult prey. With ease she slid through a small gap under a mossy, fallen tree, surprising Bepo who crashed into it and had to jump over it. With a bright smile she ran right into Jess and avoided his grasp by a sudden change in her direction, all in just a blink of an eye. She slid between Penguin's legs and tripped him up, catching his ankles. She replaced her hood with Shachi's hat and laughing like an idiot, she let him be on her tail much longer than anyone else.

Her laughter was nice to ear - not too high, not creepy, not nasal and definitely contagious. Something what started as a hunt, ended up as some reversed form of tag, with Emil and her small sparrow in one team and Heart Pirates in the other.

"Emil-ya!" Law called and spread out his hands. They'd already underwent almost whole mile Emil had mentioned - although making small spirals, she had definitely run a much longer distance – and now he wanted to see how would she pass him. Law hadn't had doubts – she was going to accept this challenge, her previous actions made him sure about that.

Emil grabbed Jess's hand - who was about to catch her - and pulled him between herself and Cheri, successfully getting away from the cook's reach. Using this moment of confusion and with a small help of her feathery friend she turned them all around pulling them right under Bepo. She quickly get away from this tangle of whining bodies and – to Law satisfaction – directed right to him.

"Room." Law created a small blue sphere under his right palm and, curious if Emil was aware of its presence, he expanded it around him. Law's operating room swallowed him, nearby bushes, Penguin - who happened to stand a little behind Law – trees around and a quite large area of slowly withering grass. Law smirked and locked his stormy eyes with Emil's light ones. She mirrored his smirk and readjusted Shachi's hat.

"Trebor," she called and a short moment later a pair of brown-black wings growth from her sides. They flapped once, creating a blow of air which hit surprised Law. With wide eyes Law and his subordinates watched as still growing wings lifted the half-fishwoman and carried her way above their heads and the light blue dome. Only a moment later, when Emil flew behind them, they realized it wasn't her who had wings – she was held by a human-sized bird which looked like a mixture between a sparrow and a crow.

Pirates retook their pursuit once Emil landed back on the grass and this odd bird changed back into her small sparrow. The first to almost catch her was Penguin, but it was Shachi who managed to, more or less, accomplish that – he ran into Emil as soon as she suddenly stopped.

"Ouch," Shachi groaned and rubbed his chest where Emil's shoulder hit him, leaving him breathless. "You could have warned me," he said with a childish offence.

"Sorry Shachi," Emil apologized with a warm smile, took off the blue hat and put it on its owner's head. Then she 'looked' behind at the rest of Heart Pirates. "We are here."

They were standing at the edge of a vast valley. It was divided on two parts by a small, curvy river and on its other side Heart Pirates spotted a herd of rabbits – over thirty white, brown and black animals at least twice as big as Bepo. They were grazing or jumping around and from this rather large distance they seemed to be rather lovely.

"As I informed mister Trafalgar and Bepo earlier, they are fast and strong," Emil started, completely ignoring Shachi who rested on her with his chin on top her head. Law wondered if his old friend would do this if he knew Emil's gender. "They are omnivores, but they have taken a liking in human flesh so much they rarely let away an opportunity to eat it and…" Emil stretched the last word and frowned, "they don't know they should ran away from you," she ended with her lips creating a short, straight line.

"So, they are running away from you," Penguin summarized, leaning against Shachi. They seemed to find strange joy in piling on Emil now, when they were able to hold her.

"Yep," she answered shortly, ignoring the additional weight on her shoulders. "That's why I suggest you to start and I'll eventually join you later… unless you prefer to chase them rather than fighting," she ended with amused tone.

"No, we don't," Shachi answered plainly. "By the way – you have an interesting friend, Emil," he added, remembering this partly crow, partly sparrow creature which now, in its tiny gray-brown form, was sitting on top his hat.

"Thanks. Bor ate a devil fruit and now he can change between a huge crow and a small sparrow," Emil explained, but even before she'd finished she'd made a sudden waltz-like step forward and to the side getting out from under Shachi and Penguin, who – with surprised calls – fell to the ground. Jess chortled, Cheri giggled, Bepo snorted, Law chuckled and Bor chirped happily and lightly landed on Emil's shoulder, while she only turned around with a wide, amused smile.

"You could have warned me," Shachi repeated with obviously fake offence in his tone and with a chuckle he shoved his fist into Penguin side, who was still laying on top of Shachi and laughing his lungs off.

Penguin let go of a short 'ouch' and rolled down his friend. "Emil!" he called when he finally calmed down, that was priceless!"

"Thank you Penguin, I'm doing my best," Emil replied with a slight blush over his pale cheeks, helping both pirates to stand up. "Now, get ready for your hunt, because rabbits have heard you." She pointed behind, at the valley. The ground under their feet started vibrating as over thirty heavy bodies bounced up and down, constantly and rather quickly approaching their own hunters. Emil casually stepped behind pirates and stuck left hand into his right sleeve. "Their fur is really thick, but elastic creating a rather good impact protection, but it doesn't helps much against blades." She pulled out a short throwing knife. "So if you want I can lend you those."

Jess immediately snatched the blade away and held it close to his flushed, amazed face. "Wow! This is incredible, Emil-san!" he called out, looking at the knife from each possible side. "It's shape, weight, balance… Is it?" He scratched a thin, much darker fuller.

"Karioseki, yes," Emil finished for him and rolled up her sleeves, revealing another seven throwing knifes attached to straps of black fabric around each thin forearm. "Stabbing a fruit user with only one of those should be enough to make them useless," she explained with a careless smile. Everyone glanced at Law and looked back at Emil, expecting her to turn toward the captain, but she was stubbornly 'looking' at Jess. "So, do you want them or not? Think fast, because rabbits are getting close."

"I don't need them," Bepo announced and ran toward bouncing animals.

"But I'll try it," Shachi added, pulling the blade out Jess's hands and immediately following the bear.

"Oy!" Jess, empty-handed, chassed his older crewmate for few yards before realizing he could take another one. He returned, nicely asked amused Emil for the next blade, but was robbed once again, this time by Penguin. "Would they ever stop picking on me?" Jess asked, laughing miserably before getting two more knifes.

"I'm afraid that's how they express their love, Jess," Emil chuckled, ruffling the taller boy's brown hair.

"Then I don't want their love," he muttered before joining his crewmates who were already fighting with the closest rabbits. Bepo swiftly avoided long teeth and punched a white-black animal right into its temple. The rabbit flew few yards backwards, but almost immediately jumped back on its muscular legs.

"So, I guess Jess is the youngest sibling in your crew," Emil assumed with a quiet chuckle.

Cheri responded with a giggle and he once again snatched her from the ground and whirled around. "Yes and you would be an amazing older sister, Emil-chan," Cheri sang and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," Emil chuckled and, with red cheeks, hugged the much taller man back. "Well, I think I know when mister Trafalgar noticed I'm a girl," she said, pointing at Law, "but when did you do, Cheri? When you hugged me?" she asked, slightly tilting her head.

"Of course not!" Cheri exclaimed. "I knew as soon as I saw you, my little sweetie. Now," the cook placed Emil back on the ground, "it's time to introduce some rabbit to my old amis." He took out two kitchen knives and giggling, danced toward the place of slaughter. Bepo had four rabbit on his count while the rest had three each, although Shachi and Penguin were arguing who killed their last one now.

"How are you going to transport all of those rabbits, Emil-ya?" Law asked, standing right next to Emil. Now, looking at his subordinates fighting with those stubborn rabbits, Law was sure Emil was the one who massacred the crew of the abandoned ship. Animals might have eaten the bodies, but it was definitely Emil who ruled on this island.

"We have it under control," she gave him a genuine, warm smile, petting Bor's small head.

* * *

A/N: So... yeah, Emil is a girl.

No, only Law and Cheri know (Bepo doesn't care)

I've told earlier, she reaches Law to his chin and Law isn't the highest man in One Piece (he has _only_ 191 cm)

And she has pretty low voice, which could be taken as not unusual high male's voice.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: And we finally have a small look inside Emil's head.

Please enjoy and as always - if you found any mistakes, please let me know.

* * *

"Strzebor," Emil called when the last rabbit fell to the ground, dead. The sparrow flew from her arm and flew toward their prey. He grew with every beat of his wings, and his happy chirps soon changer into loud caws. "Move them to the cove," she ordered calmly and chuckled as she sensed pirates reactions. They were… impressed. Who wouldn't? Emil's previous 'huge crow' was a slight underestimation – Strzebor was gigantic. His relatively short claws were as long as pirates arms and he would be able to swallow each of them in just one bite.

The crow swept all rabbits in one place, grabbed ten between his large claws, cawed once and, not worrying about two animals which slipped away, spread out his as dark as night wings and flew up.

"Wow," Shachi said, once again leaning on Emil when the wind from wings died, "your friend is really interesting." Unlike earlier, he didn't meet the ground this time, when Emil walked away and unhurriedly headed back to the cove. "'Strzebor' I've never heard that name, what does it mean?" he asked catching up with her. Penguin found a place on the other side, Law and Bepo just a little behind and Cheri with Jess at the end.

"The one who guards, fighting," Emil explained with a warm smile. She liked Shachi - him and the other mechanic, Penguin. They seemed to be full of positive energy, rather simple to get along men. They were completely unaware of her gender and she had a feeling their reaction, when they finally find out, would be amusing – the later, the funnier.

"I have to admit, you have a great bodyguard, Emil," Penguin said, playfully slapping her at the back.

"Yes, he is," she laughed shortly, "especially when he changes in the crow while being in my living room." Shachi and Penguin took a while to imagine the whole scene and snorted. "I happened," Emil added, laughing with them, "twice, when I was building my house so it wasn't that big deal."

"Emil," Shachi wrapped his arm around the woman neck and pulled her closer, "for something completely different, I sense a great feast, but we have one important question to ask…" he started, but at this point it was Penguin who continued, mirroring Schahi's move.

"Do you have any booze?"

"I have a lot of different things guys," Emil smiled, "among others - all kinds of beverage from over twenty ships," Emil's smile widened even more, "does that satisfy you?"

"Yes!" Shachi and Penguin shouted in union and slapped her back at the same time. She laughed a little at their happiness – it was so easy to entertain them.

"Do you have some red wine?" Cheri asked, frowning a little as he was planning how to cook their supper. He was holding Jess's arm to make sure he won't get lost, too fascinated with Emil's dagger to watch out the path.

"Forty six crates. Unfortunately I wasn't able to read their vintage," Emil answered with a quiet chuckle. She enjoyed the okama's company – including his sudden hugs – and hoped to learn a thing or two from him. Jess was like a kid – a big, naïve kid in love with all kinds of blades. Emil wondered how he would react once he learns that she made her weapons herself.

"Coming back to the previous topic," Penguin started, leaning on Emil's shoulder. He seemed to like it and she didn't mind. "Was Strzebor the one who destroyed this ship which floats around your island?"

"Yes," she answered plainly and waited a second until she sensed their growing curiosity, "do you want me to tell you the whole story?"

"Bring it on," Shachi demanded instantly.

"Wouldn't you like to wait until I tell it everyone?" she asked, laughing faintly. She noticed that Bor was already coming back for the second course.

Penguin snorted. "Don't worry we will tell them."

"Ok, I'll hold you to your word," Emil took a deeper breath, wondering how to start and noticing that Cheri and Jess came a little closer, "it started a day before yesterday. I made a pie…"

"Pie?" Shachi cut in, "what does some pie have to this?"

"I will explain later, now shut up," Emil playfully punched the pirate in his arm, "and listen. In the morning I made a pie and placed it on my terrace to cool it down." She jumped down a slope and waited on the others before continuing. "Around the noon I noticed the ship, rather big, with fifty eight people on board including six prisoners. Twelve of them came to my house. They introduced themselves as Pirates of the Bloody Sword."

"I think I've heard of them…" Penguin started, but then looked at Shachi, frowning as if he was asking for a little help.

"Pirates of the Bloody Sword are… were one of new crews, just like us," Jess started in a slightly formal tone, "but their biggest prizes were eighty seven million belly for the captain, the Red Bread Davy Starley and seventy five million for the first mate, Fisher John, that's why they weren't called Supernovas. They had much more luck than strength, they mostly get away marines just because weather or… but you… don't want to…" Jess blushed furiously and attempted to hide behind Emil's dagger as he noticed that everyone, except Law, stopped and were looking at him, but while Emil was interested and kind of impressed, the other seemed to be… completely normal.

"Jess is like a walking encyclopedia," Shachi explained, once again leaning against Emil's shoulder.

"He remembers literally everything he hears or reads," Penguin continued for his friend. "For example: Jess, how long is a year?"

"Three hundred sixty five days, five hours, forty eight minutes and forty five seconds," the young boy answered without even a moment of thinking, but still trying to hide his red face behind the dagger. Emil somehow found his shy behavior cute. She turned her face toward Shachi, so their noses were just mere millimeters apart, and she pointed at Jess.

"I like him," she announced plainly and took up their walk. She speed up a little bit to catch up with Law and Bepo, who had decided to join his captain earlier. "As I was saying earlier, before I was rudely interrupted…" Emil pointedly turned her head to Shachi, but it was Jess who whined a quick apologies. "It wasn't about you, Jess," Emil assured the boy softly, but gained another apology, this time the ashamed one. Emil thought he had to had some kind of complex about his knowledge. "Anyway, those pirates came to my house and… well, demanded me to feed them. If they asked kindly I would agree to help, but I don't like to take rude orders."

"I know it from somewhere," Shachi murmured, looking directly into the back of Law's head, just below the rim of his furry hat.

"Yeah, but at least Emil doesn't seem paranoid as some guy we know," Penguin added quietly.

"I can hear you," Law announced plainly, stopped at a crossroads and turned around to ask Emil about the right direction, but was greeted by a knife flying right next to his right cheek. In a split of second Shachi and Penguin grabbed both Emil's arms, tripped her up and forced to the ground, roughly keeping her down with their bodyweights. While the others were at least surprised by her behavior, Emil stayed calm and maybe a little bit bored. Even more, Law had a feeling she had let his friends immobilize her.

"Guys," she groaned, "do you really think I would miss from this distance?"

"What do you mean?" Law asked coldly, slowly approaching her. Unlike those few, who'd happened to end in similar position, she was completely relaxed just lay her head on the soft grass, not forcing herself to look up at him.

"I mean that I would hit you if I was aiming at you, mister Trafalgar," Emil explained calmly, "Bor, no!" she added as a shadow casted over her and pirates. A moment later it shrined and Emil's feathery, little friend flew down to sit on Shachi's hat. "Now, mister Trafalgar, please be so kind and look at this tree I was aiming at," she finished politely. While Shachi and Penguin exchanged short glances, completely unsure what to do next – let Emil free or not? – Law walked to the tree. The throwing knife was sticking out the rough, gray bark, but it was piercing something, a chameleon-like animal which was barely visible on this background.

"It's chlores, a very territorial reptile, which venom can kill a grown up man in three, four hours and unfortunately I'm out of the serum," Emil explained, patiently bearing with a pair of elbows on her back. She had been able to deal with the reptile in some other ways, but she was curious and she had to admit it, Shachi and Penguin passed her little test with flying colors – they had reacted fast and smoothly. The rest did fine as well – they had been ready to act as soon as those two had, but the pair just happened to be much closer.

Careful not to touch the karioseki fuller, Law pulled out the knife and keeping the dead animal for later experiments, he threw the blade to Penguin, who caught it with ease. "Which way to the submarine, Emil-ya?"

"Left, mister Trafalgar," she answered as those two, who had been holding her down, were helping her to stand up. "Thank you, Penguin," she added as the man returned her property.

"That was a great throw, my little sweetie," Cheri commented as he and Jess passed them, following Law and, of course, not missing an opportunity to ruffle her hair a little more.

"He's right," Shachi agreed and playfully slapped her back. They all completely came back to their friendly attitudes.

"And you have a nice clasp," she commented, shaking her arms to return the proper blood circulation. They both laughed happily and, with Emil between them, followed their captain.

Heart Pirates were mostly simple men – Emil summarized once again – easy to befriend and quite entertaining. She was sure she was on a straight path to gain their… hearts. But Traffy, on the other hand, was much more complicated. They had very much in common, yet they were completely different at other sides. If Emil wanted to make a present to her little friend, Monica, by introducing Traffy to her and making sure he wouldn't blow up the whole place, she had a lot of work in front of her. She had already caught his interest, but she had to keep it, make him want to know more about her. Make him want her in his crew, even despite those clashes they would definitely have. That's why she hadn't join the hunt, in other words called a massacre – she had already shown her agility, but her strength would come later.

And Bepo was incredibly cute - Emil smiled to herself at that thought. Knowing herself, she knew that sooner or later she would cling to this first mate like a limpet, to enjoy the feeling of his surely soft fur.

"Emil," Penguin elbowed her lightly, "continue your story… please," he added as he remembered that she didn't enjoy taking orders.


	5. Chapter 5

"And done," Emil said with satisfaction, securing the last loop of string around the grip made of buffalo horn. She placed in on a heavy table she was sitting at and leaned back in her swivel chair. She still had to sand a pommel, connect everything together and make a scabbard. She should be able to finish it today, so tomorrow was good to fly to Sambucus.

Emil rubbed her stiff neck and, yawning widely, she stretched out. A content hum left her chest as she felt a pleasant warmness on her hands lifted above and a little behind her head. "Morning already…" she muttered to no one, stood up and walked to an tall, opened window. Emil took a deep breath, taking in a salty breeze and an aroma of wet grass – it had been drizzling not more than a half hour earlier.

"Bor," she started, but waited until her little friend woke up from his nap. He flew up from the table and landed on Emil's shoulder, nuzzling to her neck. "How about a pie with blueberries?" she asked calmly, but the bird instantly lightened up and, chirping like a madcap, flew through the window, outside and landed on the ground in his mid-form.

"I knew it," Emil chuckled softly. "I'm coming, coming," she added happily at an impatient caw. She stepped on a low windowsill, jumped over it and unhurriedly approached the brown-black bird which was trotting in place. Emil barely climbed on Bor's back, he spread out his long wings and jumped into the air, changing into his crow form at the same time.

Bor flew up into a clear sky, but once he reached a satisfactorily high flight level, he folded his wings and let gravity work its wonders. With their heads down they were falling to the open ocean. Air was smoothly flowing around black, long feathers, but it was tugging and pulling Emil's brown hoodie in all directions as she leaned back with her arms wide open. The sound of wind in their ears was completely drowning out Emil's laugher. She loved it - air, speed, freedom.

Just above the surface of the calm ocean, Bor unfolded his wings and started flying, creating circular waves every time he hit the air.

In a matter of minutes they flew from the house in the southern part of the island to its north-east side. There, Bor changed back into his sparrow form and, racing against each other, they rushed between thick trees and bushes toward a clearing they knew very well.

Bor won the race only because he cheated by changing in his fastest, mid-form. They opened a big coconut which grew nearby and gathered ripe blueberries into its emptied shell.

Back in the house, Emil made a pie, using only a half of berries – the rest was already eaten. Then she placed in on the terrace to cool it down, went upstairs, took a quick shower and went to sleep.

After few hours, Bor wake Emil up and he pointed at the south-west. Using her haki she took a good look at a ship which was coming from this direction – big, with three decks and rather big cargo, not marine, but way too much weapons for a merchant ship. Fifty two men in the crew, mostly injured, but only few badly. Six prisoners – three adults and three kids.

Emil took her throwing knifes and attached them to forearms, went downstairs, to the terrace, sat on one of benches and took one slice of her blueberry pie. Enjoying every bite, Emil was waiting for her new guests, but since they weren't in a hurry, she took a nap.

"You! Wake up!" a big man casted a shadow over Emil's face. He seemed to be irritated and a little angry.

"Good morning," Emil answered calmly, not opening her blind eyes and not moving from her position on the soft grass in front her house. A dozen of them climbed up the cliff. The one who shouted at her apparently was the captain. He was a man of average height around his thirties, with full beard, board shoulders and two, old cutlasses attached to his wide belt. The rest was less intimidating.

"Where's the rest?" the captain snarled. He had a smell lisp, probably due missing front teeth.

"I'm the only human being you'll find on this island, mister?" Emil sat up only now, when the pirate walked past her, clearly interested in the pie.

"I'm the Red Bread Davy, the captain of the Bloody Pirates," he announced with much more pride than he should. Emil was very good in assessing the strength of her opponents – the Red Bread Davy was weak. "And you're going to feed my crew, little boy," he ended, taking the pie and helping yourself.

"I'm not going to help you, nor your crew," Emil stood up and briefly dusted her black trousers. She didn't like the Red Bread – he was rude and there was something in his voice what irritated her. "Please, put back the pie and leave," she asked standing in front the captain, with her back to others.

"Ha!" he laughed, spitting out the pieces of pie, "I'm the pirate with eighty seven millions for his head!" he informed Emil, approaching her. "If you want to live, do as I told you," he added, roughly poking Emil's chest with sticky finger.

"You're in no position to order me," Emil answered calmly with a small smile. She was going to give this fool another chance, but she was quite sure he wouldn't take it. "I ask for the last time – put the pie down… And release your prisoners."

The Red Bread Davy laughed devilishly, took another slice of pie and pointed with it at Emil. "Kill him, boys!"

From this moment everything went incredibly fast. Emil jumped forward, took out one of her blades and stabbed the captain right in the middle of his heart. The man was dead even before he could realize he was dying.

At the same time, Bor, who was sitting on the roof the whole event, flew down, changed into enormous crow, snatched two, nearest pirates and threw them down the cliff, previously crushing their ribs in his steel-like grip. The sudden appearance of gigantic, black bird startled the others completely – Emil killed half of them before they realized Bor wasn't their biggest problem. Aiming for hearts, eyes or bases of their skulls to reach the brain, she killed them all in a matter of minute or two.

"Bor, is there a lot of blood?" Emil asked, wiping off her knifes with the captain's coat, before throwing his body down the cliff, into deep waters. The bird sat on her shoulder, tilted his tiny head, but then shook it. "That's good," Emil commented with pleased smile – she hated a stench of old blood. Bor chirped shortly, ruffled his brown feathers for a while and turned toward the ship in the cove. The rest of crew was climbing up the hill. A hundred of furious men with bared teeth and weapons ready to revenge the death of their captain.

"Shachi!" Emil called out. "Shachi!" she repeated when the pirate ignored her. Only on the third time he turned toward her, obviously confused. "You're pushing it, Shachi. There wasn't hundred furious men, but thirty, scared and confused. The other ten was still immobilized since their previous battle," she cleared up, but was openly amused by his slight changes to the story.

"Who cares!?" the pirate called out, took another gulp from his big beer mug and continued telling the story. Shortly: Emil and Bor killed the rest of furious pirates, freed prisoners. Zolia - a belly dancer, Miki – Zolia's son, mister Wermin - an old magician, Terrance – a cowardly juggler, Mia and Nina – nine year old, twin gymnasts, they were all what lasted from circus troupe attacked by the pirates of Bloody Sword. And now, in the light of late evening sun and the fire, they were entertaining another pirates.

Heart Pirates were happy. They were sitting around the huge fire on the autumn island, drinking free, cold booze, eating delicious meat, listening to a fast melody and interesting story, watching a tempting dance of the beautiful woman and a show if skilled illusionist, and they had a visit in hot springs scheduled for the following day.

Emil was helping Cheri with rabbits, joking or playing with others and definitely enjoying this evening as much as her guests. And Law was watching Emil.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little peep on Emil's (almost) everyday life.

And I'd like to say thank you to _Hex223_ and_ NightHunterDeath_ for their reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

"We are going to the hot springs," Emil announced calmly, lifting a wooden tray with a pot and an empty mug on it, "are you coming with us, mister Trafalgar, or should I bring you another refill?"

Law looked up at an old floor clock which quiet, but constant ticking filled this medium-sized room. He had been sitting on a comfy, burgundy sofa over eight hours now, absorbing books and coffee at frightening rate. Emil had an impressive collection - more like a small library – with at least one position about every topic he could think of. Beside the sofa, the clock and a small coffee table, the room was filled with bookshelves with books from the flood to the ceiling. And it was impressive how she had been coming with new refill of great coffee just in time before he had finished the previous.

"It puzzles me, Emil-ya," Law started, putting away the book he was reading and standing up, "why a blind person has a library."

"I like books," Emil answered with a cheerful smile and turned around to the door. "I often ask my guests to read me and so far I have this bookshelf done," she confessed, pointing at the bookshelf next to the door and stepping into the corridor. "Bepo is in the kitchen, should I call him?"

"No, thank you," Law said, following the woman instead of going straight to the exit. Ever since their first conversation, when she dared to order him to stay on this island, everything she had been doing, pleased him somehow. She was always giving him at least two options and had a polite answer every time he chose third alternative.

Law eyed Emil up and down. She dressed like a man fond of loose cloths, but her moves and speech could fit a graceful lady. She was an average height for a woman - rather short for a man - but she held her head high, suitably to the power she had. She was intelligent, strong and fast, had an incredibly reflex and didn't do unnecessary moves. She was coldblooded and deadly for those she didn't like, but as sweet and nice as an angel for those she liked – especially Bepo.

"Captain!" Bepo called out as soon as Emil and Law entered the well-organized kitchen. He was standing next to a big table in the middle, eating a piece after a piece of a light brown cake with white cream. "Captain, this is delicious!" the bear continued and offered Law a plate with the cake. He watched it closely, before taking one piece - it was fluffy and sweet, but not too much, with a small hint of lemons and honey. Law chuckled – in the morning Emil had fished with Bepo and now she gave him a honey cake – two most obvious things to do to a bear and looking at Bepo – it worked.

"It's good," Law commented shortly, when Bepo wasn't looking away from him.

"Emil made it especially for me," the bear explained with his sharp teeth bared in a wide smile.

"And you're welcome, Bepo," Emil said, ruffling his white fur just under the round ear. Law noticed that even since the first time Emil touched his best friend yesterday evening, she took every occasion to dip her lean fingers in this white mane. And the bear seemed to at least not mind this treatment. "Can we go, mister Trafalgar?" Emil asked, taking a piece of the cake and directing her blind eyes at Law. As an answer, he only gestured at the door. Emil walked outside, followed by him and Bepo.

"Norris, please put Kermanilian back on his place," Emil asked as she passed the living room, "and we are going now." Law glanced at the room – Shachi, Penguin, Jess and Norris were there. The last one was holding the skull and apparently those four were throwing it between each other. Norris combed his thick fingers through the long, curly hair and looked at the skull with amusement which had nothing to do with his previous game. He placed the skull on the commode and rushed behind the others.

"Kerma-what?" The redhead asked when he caught up with the group at the terrace, "how did yo called it?

"Kermanilian," Emil repeated a little bit slower and plainly, but ended with a small smile – even she thought that was a weird name.

"What the hell name 's that?" Norris asked loudly and laughed bluffly.

"I have no idea," Emil admitted happily. "This was his real name, I didn't made it up."

"Wait," Jess asked, frowning, "that was a real skull? No just a model?" Everyone, except Law, looked at Emil – despite her deadly combat skills, she seemed to be a rather bright person; a fake skull in the living room, next to different jolly rogers wasn't really that odd, but a real one?

"Emil, what was so special about this Kerma-something, you decided to keep his skull?" Shachi asked, once again placing his elbow on the much shorter woman's shoulder; he definitely liked to do this as she seemed to be just the right height.

"Kermanilian was the only man I really wanted dead," she explained as plainly as if she was telling him what time it was. "I sometimes regret I didn't have time to torture him more before decapitating him," she added innocently and inflated her cheeks a little in wonder.

Jess, Noris, Shachi and Penguin blinked and looked at each other – Emil's last sentence oddly fitted to their captain. "And what did yo do to Kerma-something before decapitating him?" Norris asked.

Emil took a deeper breath and hummed a little, trying to recall the said event. "I cut out his left hand," she started casually, counting on fingers, "left leg just below the knee, but right leg in the mid-tight. Then I stabbed his left eye, cut him open and shoved his gut down his throat, but he probably was dead by then… All because I was in hurry," she added and shrugged. "At the end I cut out his head and took it."

Pirates glanced at Law – it definitely sounded like something he would say and do. And he would regret he couldn't torture this Kerma-something more, as well. A silence fell between them – only Emil hummed quietly a happy melody, the same which played yesterday. They all had the same question at the tips of their tongues, but none of them was really sure if they wanted to know the answer. "What did he do to you, Emil-ya, that you wanted his death?" Law asked in casual tone – as if they were discussing their favorite cake flavor, not their tastes in killing people.

"He killed two people I cared about," Emil answered flatly and after a while of silence. Unlike her previous answers, this one hadn't had even the tiniest bits of amusement and for a short while her blind eyes seemed to be completely dead. Pirates sighed a little: this reason sounded legit, at least she didn't kill for sole purpose of killing, like someone they knew. "And many other reasons you don't really want to know," Emil added, coming back to her happy tone.

"I'd like to know, Emil-ya," Law said, genuinely interested how dark her past was.

Emil chuckled shortly before answering. "Maybe some other time, mister Trafalgar."

Law didn't push it - he had a feeling that maybe in parts, maybe from the beginning to the end, but she would tell him her dark story. And besides that: they reached the cove. Now they had to get on the submarine, where the rest already waited on them, and sail to the north part of the island, much closer to the hot springs.

* * *

A/N: Shachi and Penguin are going to freak out in the next part xD

And Norris is supposed to look a little like a viking.

Reviews! Please!


	7. Chapter 7

Fifteen minutes after they left the submarine, they climbed up a hill with a small hut on top of it. The opposite slope was patched by hot springs, smaller and bigger, divided on two, far uneven parts by a tall fence. Sunlight which managed to go through a red and golden canopy of ancient trees, created a dotted pattern of lights and shadows, which combined with a steam hovering above each spring, created an illusion of constant movement.

"It's beautiful here," Zolia commented, stopping beside Emil, who was at the head of the group.

"Well, I'll take your word on it," Emil answered with a stupid smile, but it casted an awkward silence over the whole group. They were so quiet they could hear the rustle of leaves and splashes of water. Then Emil snorted. "Ok, on the left are springs for men, on the right are for women and kids, whoever breaks this rule - deals with me. This hut has two separate rooms with separate entrances, towels are in closets," she said rather rapidly. "Any questions?"

"No!" Miki called out and laughing loudly ran toward the right side of the hut. He was immediately followed by twins, then by his mother and finally the men rushed toward their part. Only Emil, Law and Bepo stayed in places, watching others with bigger or smaller amusement.

"Oh," Emil started after a while, with a small frown, "I forgot..."

"About what, Emil-ya?" Law asked, completely ignoring his crew which so far was mostly at least half naked.

"Squirrels live around here," she explained, whirling her finger, "they are as big as normal cats and they like to steal clothes, so I strongly recommend you to close them inside." She pointed at the hut.

"Jess!" Law called the boy, who somehow landed at the end of a group. "Gather all clothes and close them inside." Jess definitely disliked this order, but he saluted briefly and bend down to pick up the nearest piece of clothing, which happened to be Norris's jumpsuit.

"You're heartless, mister Trafalgar," Emil commented plainly and reached inside her hood. "Bor? We are here," she added, taking out the napping bird.

"You can always help him, Emil-ya," Law commented, watching as the little bird ruffled his brown feathers and, after a while he needed to wake up, flew up and on the roof.

"Next time," Emil assured with a chuckle. "Do you have any questions before I join the other side?"

"Do you really think, Emil-ya, you'll manage to go there without problems?" Law asked with a surprisingly kind smile. He had a feeling she had been waiting for this moment as much as he had, and now this big smile on her face confirmed him in this belief.

"I have no idea what are you talking about," Emil answered with a clear mirth in her voice. "Now, If you excuse me…" she bowed her head just a little bit and turned around, heading toward the right side of the hut.

"What was that about, Captain?" Bapo asked, tilting his head to the side.

"You'll see in a while, Bepo," Law answered and unhurriedly headed forward, but he didn't made three steps before an angry call.

"Oi! Emil!" Shachi, only in a towel around his hips, stood up from the nearest spring, "where you think you're going?!"

"There?" Emil answered with not-so-innocent grin, pointing at the woman's part of slope.

"No! Fucking! Way!" Shachi called out, grabbed an arm of the nearest crew mate - who happened to be Penguin – and cheered by the rest, stepped to Emil. "You said it yourself: no peeping to the other side or you beat the shit out of us!"

"I've never said that!" Emil laughed, allowing two pirates to hook their hands under her arms and drag her toward the biggest spring.

"And you're doing it yourself!" Shachi continued, completely ignoring Emil's notice. "You could at least do it quietly, without us noticing!" he laughed. What started as an act of anger, bloomed into a great play. At this point, all he and the rest of his crew wanted, was to throw someone into the water with clothes on and Emil was a great candidate. "Now you have to pay!"

Shachi and Penguin turned to each other, with chuckling Emil in the middle and, cracking a toothy grins, they reached their free hands under her knees and lifted her up. Amid the general applause they swung her once and threw to the middle of slightly green, steaming surface. Not even a second after the big splash, those two followed the example and jumped into the water right next to place Emil disappeared.

Seconds passed, the laugher slowly faded as those three stayed underwater. After a minute only faint chuckles were audible as Heart Pirates waited for divers to come to the surface – they could see movements through the half transparent water, but it was getting long. Even Law had time to unhurriedly undress himself.

"Whoa!" Emil desperately gasped for air as soon as her head cut the surface. With her blind eyes wide opened and completely flushed cheeks, she took few quick breaths to calm down, while Shachi and Penguin laughed at her miserable look.

"Ha! Ha! Emil!" Penguin sneaked his arm around Emil's neck and pulled her closer. "Does that mean your gills are just for show?" he asked between short snickers, pocking the base of Emil's neck where two, black lines were.

"They are pretty much real," Emil breathed with a small smile, "but I'll tell you a secret guys," with those words she wrapped her arms around Shachi's and Penguin's necks and pulled them closer, so their flushed faces were really close to each other. "There's very little oxygen in hot water." Emil took a quick breath and dived, pulling the two men with her and causing another roar of laughs from their watchers. But this time they surfaced much sooner – Emil chucking, but Shachi and Penguin coughing.

"So, I guess I have to stay on this side of the world," Emil commented plainly, getting out the spring and gaining omnipresent calls of agreement. "Ok, ok. Zolia!" she called out, attempting to take off the soaked hoodie and shirt which decided to clung to her slender body. "Close your clothes in the hut, or they will be stolen by animals!" she continued once she heard a reply.

"Emil!" Shachi cried out as soon as Emil managed to lift the stubborn pieces of clothing high enough to reveal her wrapped in bandages chest. "Why you hadn't say you were hurt!?" Soon after this call he once again materialized himself and Penguin next to Emil, grabbed her still trapped in clothes arms and dragged her - back first - to Law who found himself a nice place in nearby spring.

"Hey, guys it's ok," Emil laughed – her voice muffled due to the wet tent around her head.

"It's not ok!" Penguin called and forcefully leaned her over Law's head. "Please look at it, Captain."

Law looked up at the back over his head, successfully hiding the amusement this whole scene ignited in him. He didn't worry about Emil's condition even a slightest bit – he was sure those bandages worked as a bra, not to secure some kind of wound. But there indeed was something what caught his attention – a burned out mark right between her shoulder blades. It looked like a flower, a Peacock Flower if he wasn't mistaken. The mark was partly covered by bandages so he reached up, hooked a lean finger over the wet cloth and lightly pulled it down.

A the same time Penguin realized his hand fell on something rather squashy. He blinked in wonder, before looking down – his hand was on Emil's bandaged chest, right next to Shachi's hand. The first thought that come to his mind was that holding hands in place someone may be wounded wasn't the best idea, but it didn't answer his actual question. Penguin slightly tightened his grip – Emil's chest was oddly soft and considering the lack of sudden movements – wasn't hurt. The pirate frowned a little and his sight trailed down Emil's pale body. Why Emil had so well-defined waistline?

"Whoa!" Penguin called out and let go of Emil as soon as he realized she was a woman and he was holding her boob. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to!" he started to apologize and considering Shachi's mirrored behavior – his trail of thoughts was exactly the same.

"I hope you're apologizing to me," Law said coldly. Completely wet, he was holding laughing Emil, who finally managed to free her head from soaked clothes – she had fallen on his head as soon as his subordinated had let go of her.

Penguin and Shachi froze for a while, before realizing what just had happened and starting apologizing once again, gaining a quiet chuckles from their still confused crew mates.

"Shut up and help me stand!" Emil demanded with a happy laugh. With her legs on the ground, ass in the water, back against Law's chest and hands still trapped in a wet tangle it was rather hard to do it without help.

"Oh, yeah Emil," Shachi coughed awkwardly and reached out his hand, but he didn't tightened his grip once Emil grabbed it - instead he stared at his captain's hands which happened to land on her chest. His cheeks flushed even darker as he noticed those lean digits twitched a little, tightening around the clothed flesh.

"You have rather small breasts, don't you, Emil-ya?" Law commented casually, enjoying startled looks from his blushing subordinates. Too his surprise, Emil stayed completely cool about this whole situation – she slowly lifted her head to lock her light grey eyes with his darker ones. She blinked few times before opening her lips which held a barely visible amusement – Law got a feeling he would regret his previous comment.

"It's a pity I can't describe otherwise your genitals, mister Trafalgar," she said in the calmest voice Law had heard from her and pulled herself up, before he could attempt to strangle her. It was the first time she talked back to anyone! At least he made a mental note to get her to repay. "Ok guys, I'll just go undress and I'm right back," she announced with a big smile and run toward the hut.

"Wait!" Penguin called out. He still had troubles with assimilating what just had happened. "You're going to stay with us?"

Emil swirled in place, showing them a surprised expression. "Yes, he forced me." She briefly pointed at Shachi and continued her run to the changing room.

A silence fell among all men. Law was plotting his revenge, noting in the back of his mind an odd fact that Emil hadn't blushed even a little in his embrace, Cheri and mister Wermin were chuckling quietly at the overall confusion, Terrence wasn't sure if he wanted to explain the situation and Bepo yawned wildly, not understanding the whole fuss, but not really caring as long as his captain wasn't alarmed.

* * *

A/N: I'm cutting it here, because otherwise it would be to a little too long... And I think Law would be able to come with a stinging remark, but I can't so it stays like that.

**itte'sasprite**: thank you for compliment, I'm trying my best. And I'll tell how Law find out that Emil's a woman in the next part.

**Dhalmi93**: Law doesn't have a thing for Emil (yet), she's just an unsolved puzzle for him.

Reviews Please! I like Reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

Emil smiled to herself – Shachi's and Penguin's reactions were priceless and, knowing that the rest had no idea what just happened, she expected more. She rarely corrected people when they mistook her gender, mainly because she didn't care, but partly because their shock, when they found out, was amusing. That's why she was kind of grateful to Cheri and Law for not exposing her as soon as they had occasion.

Trafalgar Law - he almost perfectly matched the image Emil had created after countless evenings of listening to Monica's stories about him and his crew. The intelligent man, who didn't take orders, didn't care about anything and was telling what was on his mind even if that could hurt other's feelings.

Emil chuckled, unwrapping the bandage from her chest. She had never had any complexes about her breast size – she even thought they could be smaller – but Traffy was asking for this kind of come back. He had this 'I'm better than you' air around him and Emil thought it was the right moment to show him that he was wrong.

Emil wringed out as much water as she could from her clothes, hung them on a string just under the ceiling, took a big towel from a narrow closet and, not caring about clothes scattered around the whole floor, she walked outside, wrapping the cloth tightly around her slender body.

"Emil!" Jean Bert called out as soon as he saw her. "What was that all… about…" his and the bigger part of his crewmate's eyes widened as they noticed her feminine shapes not as well hidden under the tight towel as under her baggy clothes. What Emil was unable to see, was a blush which covered a quite big part of their cheeks as they thought about all wrestling and other things they had done with her, but would had never done, if they had knew she wasn't a man.

"I don't know!" Emil laughed and placed hands on her hips to dispel any doubts they could have. She chuckled at all those jaws which were picked up from the ground right now – she knew they weren't a bunch of losers, but she was quite aware that only Law and Flynn, the helmsman, were able to get laid after five minutes of conversation… or without it. "Watch out!" she called out and carelessly, with a wide smile, ran toward the biggest and crowdies spring, to jump and land exactly in the middle of it, splashing others.

"Emil!" Norris grabbed her arms as soon as she surfaced. He was looking at her with wide opened eyes, but he was hardly believing it. "When the hell did yo become woman!?" he squeaked at the last word.

"I was from the beginning?" Emil answered, completely amused by their reactions. "Ask your captain, he knew almost as soon as he saw me," she added, stressing the 'almost' part and pointing at the mentioned man.

"You did, captain?" Jess asked sheepishly, pronouncing the question which bloomed in almost all heads.

"I did," Law answered lazily, ignoring all eyes turned to his person and relaxing in the hot water with his arm stretched out on the edge and his head on a folded, soft towel.

"Hey, but Emil said you knew 'almost' from the beginning," Shachi pointed out, unaware of a slight twitch which this sentence caused on Law's face, "so when did you notice it exactly?" The captain slowly raised his head and send his subordinate a deadly look, then he took an equally slow breath and opened his mouth to answer, but someone beat him to it.

"I know! I know! I know!" Emil exclaimed happily, lifting her hands and jumping a little with each repeat, creating small waves around her. This also loosened her towel. "Can I tell them?" She asked, getting out the spring while adjusting the cloth and completely ignoring stares which instantly traveled from Law to her.

"No," Law answered bluntly, immediately sweeping away the bright smile from Emil's face. She stopped in place, already outside the spring, with the corners of her mouth tilted down and her blind, saddened eyes directed at Law.

"At first I thought he knew from the very beginning," Emil started rather quickly, turning toward the pirates with her childish happiness back on her features, "all because he called me Emil-ya. I took it as Emilia - my full name - not as Emil-ya," she slowed down at the end, clearly separating the two parts.

"I've just disagreed, Emil-ya," Law cut in, shooting her a cold stare in the back of her head.

"I've gave you an opportunity to agree with me, but you disappointed me, mister Trafalgar," Emil explained, sending him a warm, toothy smile. "I realized what he said, when he referred to Cheri as Christopher-ya."

"What happened to your 'I want to be a great host' play, Emil-ya?" Law asked standing up from his comfy place – he had one hypothesis about Emil to test and it would be easier if he was standing next to her.

"I got bored by it," she confessed plainly. "So thinking back about it I realized that after we meet Jess on our way to submarine…"

"If you got bored, Emil-ya," Law cut in the mid-sentence – he already knew that she was right. "I guess you wouldn't mind if I play in vivisection with your other guests," he ended with his trademark smirk, looking straight into Emil's eyes. She blinked few times in surprise, before frowning a little.

"Of course I would mind, mister Trafalgar," Emil exclaimed with fake anger. "I promised to transport them safety to Floris and I always," she poked his naked chest at this word, "keep my word, mister Trafalgar. And coming back to the topic: after we meet Jess your captain cheeked my fingers," she ended with satisfied grin, spreading out her fingers and showing them to pirates.

Law chuckled – all Emil's explanation did was confusing his subordinates even more. On the other hand he had a strange feeling she did it on purpose.

"What the hell that's supposed to mean?" Norris blurred out. His and others eyes were jumping between their captain and Emil. They were waiting for any information about some odd fact about fingers those two apparently knew.

Law sighed shortly, grabbed Emil's hand, joined her straightened fingers and showed it to his subordinates. "Women usually have their index finger longer than ring finger while men have it vice versa," he explained and, as he expected, all men in front of him instantly looked at their hands.

"I have them equal!" Cheri called out, waving his hands above his head.

"It doesn't surprise me," Law commented flatly, gaining chuckles from his crew. He briefly wondered how would they react once he tests his little hypothesis. He pulled Emil closer. "Now coming back to the right topic…" he started, causing a questioning look from Emil. He swiftly leaned down and locked their lips together.

Once again this evening, a silence fell upon men's part of the slope. The most audible sound was Miki's laughter from the other side of the fence. Then there was a whistle and 'go for it' call and heart pirates started to cheer, completely unaware of Law's real reasons.

Emil at first stayed motionless, but after a while she reached her free hand to Law's face and delicately, but surely pushed him away. "What…" Emil started, clearly puzzled, but with as pale cheeks as they were a moment earlier. "What are you doing, mister Trafalgar?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're beautiful," Law said bluntly and this time Emil's reaction was instant – her cheeks and ears were covered with furious shade of red. Law chuckled shortly and grinned – it was just the result he had been anticipating.

"Er…" Emil was completely dumbfounded. "Thank… you…?"

"It's fascinating, Emil-ya how you stay unfazed at any physical contact, but you're abashed by the simplest compliment," Law commented loud enough for his men to catch it. Well at least she hadn't change in a stuttering, pretty much useless mess.

"I guess I'm simply not used to them?" Emil answered, not sure herself. The red hue was disappearing from her face rather fast.

"How it happened you're used to physical contact?" Cheri cried out and he was soon followed by the rest.

"Well…" Emil started, biting her lip in wonder. The blush was already gone. "I was a slave for ten years… and I'll let you imagine what I was forced to do," she said with a lopsided grin and slowly walked toward the spring where Law had been sitting… or where Bepo was sitting. "You probably won't get even close anyway," she added with careless expression, loud only enough for Law to hear it. He smirked – she caught his interest once again. Once again she had a secret he wanted to know.

"Emil!" Norris called out and continued only when she turned to him, "will you give me a kiss?" he asked, gaining a smack in the back of his head from weeping Cheri.

"Sure," Emil answered and send him a warm smile.

"No! Kiss me!" Shachi shouted, forcing Norris's head underwater.

"I want a kiss too!" Ben called from other, smaller spring.

"Guys!" Emil quieted them before they could start fighting for real. Everyone looked at her and she was barely refraining from laughing out loud. "I'll kiss one of you! You choose which one!"

There was a silence. For a while. For a very short while before even bigger fight started. Of course almost all Heart Pirates wanted to get a kiss from a beautiful woman.

Followed by Law and chuckling like some idiot, Emil slowly approached Bepo who was watching the whole event with his innocent, beady eyes.

"Say Emil," he started, tilting his round head, when Emil managed to calm down, "do you know any female bears?"

"Oh." Emil's smile dropped a little. "I know few, but they all are at least four meters high and have ram horns… and they are all taken."

"That's ok, I guess," the first mate saddened visibly.

"But I have a rather good information for you Bepo," Emil said softly, stroking the white fur at the bear's neck. "Look up," she added, pointing at the sky. Bepo did as Emil asked and after a while of wondering what she had on her mind, he smiled widely.

"Snow," he said faintly. White, little stars, Bepo hadn't seen for so long, swirled between red and golden leaves.

"You could set a watch according to the weather on this island," Emil commented with a warm smile, "it will be around ten centimeters of snow tomorrow, but over half meter the day after." Emil liked the whole crew of Heart Pirates, but Bepo - the incredibly sweet animal - was definitely on the top of her list amd she didn't want him to be sad.

"I can't wait, Emil," was an answer adored by a bright smile. Emil chuckled and, still ruffling the soft fur, turned toward the almost naked men. They were either punching or drowning themselves and it looked like the best way to finish it was to choose the lucky one in their place. Emil hummed quietly – thinking. The only ones who didn't fight were Cheri who acted fatherly, or motherly, toward her, Jean Bert who hadn't show too much interest in any relationships, Flynn who just watched the show, Stan - Flynn's father - who didn't saw a world behind his cartography, sweet Jess who turned out to be much calmer without caffeine and of course the captain who was sitting comfortably in his hot spring, ignoring his subordinate's antics.

Emil chuckled at the obviousness of the choice and stepped closer to her victim.

* * *

A/N: The speed at which I'm writing this story kind of terrifies me... I should be doing projects to school...

**Dhalmi93**: I'm happy you like her. I can tell many things about Emil, but certainly not that she has issues - she's deprived of them. All because I want her to be a very good rival for Law (at some point I was afraid I'll turn her into Mary Sue xD)

By the way - if you ever wondered - on my profil is a link to Emil's picture.


	9. Chapter 9

An empty mug. Again. Law sighed, stood up and walked outside the library. From their yesterday's visit in the hot springs, Law hadn't had many interactions with Emil. In other words: no more coffee served right under his nose - he had to do it himself.

Once in the kitchen, Law placed the mug on top of a rather tall pile in a sink, and took a clean one from one of many, elegant cupboards - he could at least provide Emil some entertaining work for later.

Waiting for a coffee to brew, Law looked at an evening, white landscape behind a wide window. His crew and Emil were in the middle of a snowball fight. It looked like it was Emil, Bor, Bepo and Jess versus the rest and what's interesting: the tide of war was in favor of the former, much smaller group.

Law smirked. Ever since Emil had kissed Jess's cheek at the hot springs, the rest had been picking on the naive kid more than usual. So much, Emil took him under her protective wings. Thinking back about it: after the fight over the kiss, the visit was relatively calm; only Miki, a some point, decided to sneak to men's part and steal all towels, Law's including - the little brat was still in one piece only due Emil's intervention.

Law was pouring a hot, aromatic coffee to the fresh mug when Mia and Nina came into the kitchen. Giggling and not caring about his presence, those two little blondes ran to the big fridge, opened it and, instead of taking one of stools, Mia climbed on Nina's shoulders to reach a plate with cheesecake which was on the highest shelf. Then they skillfully transported the plate on the table. While Mia closed the fridge and looked for a knife and spoons, Nina approached Law.

"Excuse me, mister captain, but could you please hand me two plates?" she asked in a high, but quiet voice, directing her round, brown eyes straight into Law's and pointing at a cupboard behind him.

Law blinked in surprise. He hadn't really heard those two earlier, but he didn't expect them to show such manners – they were completely different from that loud Miki. Without a word, he reached behind and took two plates.

"Thank you," Nina said with a bright smile when he handed them to her. Then she ran to her twin sister. Sipping his coffee, Law watched them for a while, as they cut out two pieces of cheesecake and placed them on their plates with far too serious faces – as if they were carrying out an operation on an open brain.

"Girls," Law started when they were done, "do you know where's Emil's bedroom?"

Mia and Nina looked at him with blank expressions, glanced at each other and then up at the ceiling.

"It's upstairs…" Mia started.

"… second door…" Nina continued.

"… on the left," Mia finished.

"Why?" they added at the same time and tilted their heads in opposite directions, creating a perfectly mirrored picture.

"Curiosity," Law replied evasively and let go of a short chuckle at their act. Those girls were the most synchronized twins he had ever seen, but - knowing their circus past – they probably did it purposely.

Followed by two pairs of full of wonder, brown eyes, Law walked outside the kitchen and headed up the stairs. He stopped in front of the second door to the left and took another sip of coffee before turning the knob. It was rather dark inside, even darker due black floor and ceiling, so Law reached out to the light switch, but his hand meet only an completely flat surface. Only after a moment of stubborn search, Law realized there wasn't such thing as light switch. Why should it? Emil definitely didn't need lights and they were in other parts of her house only for her guest's sake.

Law looked around – this room was relatively small and pretty much empty: a queen sized bed with plenty of pillows, two big commodes probably full of clothes and a dark, furry carpet which covered the whole floor were pretty much all. Frowning, Law scanned the walls, looking for jolly rogers, but he found none. Had Emil been lying about her trophies? Was those twenty one flags downstairs all she had?

Law, slightly annoyed to say the least, directed his steps toward the door, but he stopped in the doorframe, noticing that this odd, black ceiling was much lower than this light one in the corridor. "It can't be…" he muttered, reaching up to the dark one. Instead of flat, hard surface he felt soft folds of fabric. With wide opened eyes glued to the black mass, Law placed the mug on a nearby commode and reached up both hands. Those were flags – many, many black flags attached to the ceiling in swirling pattern with occasional white or colored stroke. Law spend a few minutes to look closely at each of jolly rogers and as far as he noticed, none of them repeated. There was around one hundred flags – 'around' because the complex pattern was making it difficult to count.

A hundred of different - smaller or bigger, but strong enough to sail on the New World - pirate crews were beaten only by this inconspicuous woman named Emil and her feathery friend Bor.

"Mister Wermin?" Zolia looked through the opened doorway. "Oh, captain Trafalgar. Do you happen to know where mister Wermin may be?" She seemed concerned.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday," Law answered flatly. He reached for his mug, took a sip and frowned – the coffee had already cooled down. Ignoring a worried look on the woman's face, Law passed her and walked downstairs, back to the kitchen for another refill.

Once Law had a fresh coffee in a fresh mug, he headed back to the library.

* * *

A/N: It's short. I know. I'm sorry *hangs her head down like Bepo*

But there's a long Law x Emil dialoque on the horizon... But I have to think it through so it won't come out lame (or Emil won't come out overpowered xD)

And I know that twins like that are cliche, but I really think they could train it purposely (and I had to put here something or it would be even shorter)

**Akira-chan**: Thank you. I'll try to make it the best in the next month too.

**NightHunterDeath**: Well... you already know who. It was the obvious choice for Emil, not for readers.

(Yay, I had as many reviews as chapters xD)


	10. Chapter 10

_Twang. Twang. Twang._

Law looked up from his book, listening. The house was quiet – hidden under a thick layer of fluffy snow and with almost all its residents in a deep sleep. The constant ticking of the floor clock, which elaborate hands pointed at half past four, was the loudest sound, but even so it wasn't masking a quiet, coming from the outside, sound of hitting metal against metal.

Law's agitated curiosity made him put away the book and stand up. He walked down the dark corridor to the exit and, after pulling on a black coat, opened the door. A brief shiver ran all over Law's body as an icy blow hit his face. He straightened the collar of his warm coat before closing the door. Then he blew at his hands, rubbed them and shoved down his padded pockets before stepping into a mid-calf deep and still increasing snow.

The sound was coming from the other building. Lights and shadows were dancing on its tall windows as if fire was burning inside. Law readjusted his fuzzy hat, before wind could snatch it away, and walked to the closed, double door through the swirling snow.

Inside this smaller building was warm, even hot. Snowflakes, which flew inside before Law could close the door, melted as soon as they touched a stone floor. Taking off his coat, Law looked around. It was a smithy – a well maintained one if someone asked him. The only source of light was a fire on a big fireplace. Two anvils, a grinding wheel, countless irons, tongs and hammers arranged on hangers, baskets full of coal and boxes filled with metal parts, pieces of different colored wood, horns and gems in tall shelves, a few closed cabinets, a big working table in the middle and a huge, beautiful apothecary cabinet.

Emil was standing next to the further anvil, with her back to Law. She was wearing her trademark, baggy trousers and a fitting, navy blue sleeveless shirt which revealed a work of her upper muscles under the pale skin as she constantly lifted a hammer over her head and surely dropped it on a red-hot solid block. She was aware of his presence – Law hadn't had doubts about it – but she acted as he wasn't there. But not Bor – he stopped pecking grains from a ceramic bowl on the table, just to look at the unexpected, late guest. Followed by those beady eyes, Law walked to the table and hung up his coat on a backrest of a nearby chair – the second one was taken by Emil's hoodie.

"Someone has problems with sleep, I see" Emil commented with barely audible mirth, right before transporting the metal block to a container with oil. The liquid hissed at the contact with the burning mass.

"Look who's speaking," Law replied, sitting comfortably on the chair.

"I don't have problems," was an answer mixed with a chuckle. Emil took off her thick, leather gloves and walked to a sink which was right next to the apothecary cabinet.

"Then what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Law took off his fuzzy hat and placed it on the table – it was a little too hot here to wear it.

"I've already had my tonight sleep." Emil opened the tap and started washing her hands. "My sleep pattern is rather different than any of yours. On the other hand, mister Trafalgar, yours the weirdest."

"What do you mean by 'different', Emil-ya?" Law asked watching as Bor jumped from the rim of the bowl and flew to Emil's shoulder.

"My day has eighteen hours with four for a sleep," she answered, stroking the bird's head with her cheek and wiping her hands in a small, white towel. "This pattern was slightly disturbed after your arrival, but I can stand it," she ended with a warm smile.

"Why is it like that?" he asked. Eight hour of sleep for every day and a half – it wasn't much, but he himself probably was getting even less.

"You know," Emil carelessly threw the towel behind and it landed on the tap, "being bling and living pretty much alone for over four years – I stopped caring about the time of the day." She walked to the cabinet on the other side of the room and opened it, but what left Law speechless was that when she had been passing him, she had ruffled his hair. Yes, he had seen her doing that to many of his subordinates, but he had never expected her to try it on him. "Do you want an apple?" Emil's question pulled him back to reality. The cabinet turned out to be a small fridge full of fruits and drinks.

"No, thank you Emil-ya," he replied, "but I wouldn't mind some coffee."

"Again?!" Emil laughed. "You've already had my month's supply of coffee and it's still not enough!" Shaking her head in disbelieve, she took one apple and closed the fridge. Approaching the other chair she chuckled at Law's wary look. "I don't have coffee here and I'm not going outside now, so deal with it," she said bluntly, falling on her seat.

"Why do you wake up after four hours?" Law came back to previous topic. This could lead to something interesting, or plainly stupid.

"A habit, I guess," Emil replied with a slight shrug. She reached for one of few daggers which were on the table and started to peel the apple. "I used to have nightmares when I slept longer than that," she confessed blankly, but Law's eyebrows twitched a little – this could be interesting.

"Any ideas what could be causing those nightmares?" he asked casually. He noticed that this dagger had a darker fuller as well and started to wonder if all her blades had karioseki in them.

Emil chuckled before answering. "Third row, second drawer from the right," she said, pointing the tip of the dagger in the direction of the cabinet. "The bribe, I promised you, is inside."

Law looked at the furniture. For not hurting Miki, when he had stolen his towel, Emil promised to give him 'something he would like and could use'. "Please, don't change the subject, Emil-ya," he asked looking back at the woman.

"I'm not," Emil said with a wide smile, "it's connected to your question, mister Trafalgar." She placed an incredibly long apple peel on the tabletop and it was immediately attacked by the happily chirping Bor. "I won't say a word until you look at it," Emil added, cutting the apple in half.

Law, slightly irritated, stood up, walked to the cabinet and opened the mentioned drawer with a quiet clang of its constant. Surgical instruments. "Did you make them, Emil-ya?" he asked and as an answer he got a confirming hum followed by a sound of eating an apple. Law looked closely inside the drawer. Forceps, retractors, dilators, needle holders and everything else he could need during a surgery, but scalpels.

"Scalpels are in third drawer," Emil announced as if she was reading Law's mind. He opened it and indeed inside it were scalpels, but Law's sight went back to the first drawer. He took arterial forceps which happened to be on top and opened and closed them few times – they were lying in his hand quite well. Law frowned – those instruments were slightly different than those he was used to, but he had seen them earlier. Those models were used by surgeons from Ambroise, surgeons of the nobility – arrogant and corrupted, but undeniably skillful. Law turned to Emil and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Emil beat him to it.

"I wanted to be a smith ever since I was a small kid, so I looked closely at every metal tool which fell into my hands," she said calmly, cutting the apple into thin slices, on a plate she took from somewhere. "When I was seven my parents were killed, I lost my sight and was taken by Poinciana's family, a family of marine officers. It was officially called an adoption, but it was a plain slavery," she said it with sarcastic laugh and placed the plate on the table, right between her and Law, who came back to his seat. "Among many other things I was forced to fight. This led to countless wounds and they led to a surgeon named Joel Delu." Emil let go of a raspberry, took a slice of the apple and swirled it between lean fingers before biting on it. "The best tailor for the favorite rag-doll," she ended sourly and gave Law a blank stare of her empty eyes.

I wasn't enough. It was too brief. It was like reading the table of contents, but not the book itself. How had her parents died? How had she lost her sight? What had she meant by 'many others'? Why had she called herself a 'rag-doll'? How had she freed herself? Was Kermanilian from this Poinciana family?

"Can't you be more detailed, Emil-ya?" Law asked calmly.

Emil's lips stretched in a wide smile. "No," she chuckled.

"Why?" was a quick question.

"I suggest a deal, mister Trafalgar." Emil leaned slightly toward him, with amusement clearly visible on her face. "You'll meet with my friend Monica and if no one gets hurt during this meeting, I'll answer all your questions."

Law's eye twitched. Emil was doing it again. She was making demands. But maybe it was a fair deal. "Where does your friend live?"

"In my home village, Sumbucus, on Floris," she answered with her everlasting good humor. "It's one of the closest to reach from here."

"You've said she's eleven, Emil-ya," Law recalled their first conversation. "Why do you make it sound as if I was going to kill her."

"Monica can be…" Emil took a hissing breath through the clenched teeth, looking for the right word, "irritating. Especially when you're the topic, mister Trafalgar. I'm asking you only because I perfectly know she wouldn't let me live in peace when she gets to know that I met you, but haven't force you to meet her," she ended with a giggle.

"Why do you think I'll agree to this deal, Emil-ya?" Law was sure he hid his interest well.

"Did you like my collection of flags?" Emil asked with a happy smile. "You seemed rather fascinated."

'How do you know?' was the first thing that came to Law's mind, but he managed to bit his tongue. Of course she knew, her house was within the half mile range from the snow battlefield. Law chuckled – Emil's insane kenbunshoku haki was a powerful weapon he wouldn't mind to use. And he still hadn't seen her busoshoku haki. "I'll try not to hurt her, but I can't promise anything."

"Sounds good to me," Emil admitted with a slight nod to the side. "I'll try to hold her down," she stood up and took her hoodie. "I have a desire for a cup of tea," she sang happily, pulling on the piece of clothing. "Fell free to take them whenever you want," she added, pointing at the opened drawers. "Bye, bye," with this goodbye, Emil walked outside, not losing an opportunity to ruffle Law's hair.

'What a random woman,' Law thought, looking at the closing door. He sighed, wondering if someone would ever develop a way to read someone's mind through some kind of surgery.

* * *

A/N: That's it for a while, I have to do my school projects (knowing myself - I will write something anyway :/)

Law, your curiosity will kill you at some point.

**Akira-chan**: Yup, Law drinks way too much coffee, but don't worry - Emil will work on it ;P

**Dhalmi93**: Emil is a definition of badassness xD


	11. Chapter 11

Law's sight slowly traveled from the fireplace, over boxes and cabinets, to the double doors. Emil hadn't said if she was going to come back or not; Bor had flown behind her, the fire was slowly fading away and she bid her farewell, but that still didn't mean she wouldn't come. She could add some coal to the fire at any time, Bor was almost always beside her and she could had said him 'bye' in case he decided to leave. Law looked at the two opened drawers and decided to take a good look at their content - if Emil comes before he's done, they would talk some more, but if not, he would go to the submarine.

Law stood up, took one of apple slices Emil had left and walked to the fireplace. Munching the sweet fruit, he took a shovel of coal and poured into the fire. He grabbed the nearest fire iron and stirred the black chunks until flames hugged them all. Only then Law walked to the apothecary cabinet and pulled out both already opened drawers. Putting them on the table, Law sat back on his chair. He took another apple slice and started to examine his new gift, one instrument at a time. They all were well done – sturdy and fitting – Emil definitely had a flair for this. Law smiled – it was relatively easy to obtain medications for a pirate ship, bandages, syringes, drips, needles and threads too, but surgical instruments were always a good gift, especially those of good quality.

"And I thought you would go to sleep, mister Trafalgar," sounded an amused voice as soon as a blow of cold air licked Law's exposed neck. He looked back to see as Emil closed the door with a covered tray supported on her hip. She pulled down the hood and at the same time Bor flew from it, soared over Law's head and landed next to the apple peel.

"Are you disappointed, Emil-ya?" Law asked, watching as she set the tray on the table - on this small area which was left after he had lain out his new instruments.

"Not really," she admitted, lifting the cover. There was a tea pot, a plate with variously-shaped gingerbreads, sugar-bowl and two small cups. "But I'll leave you here if you fell on your face. When was the last time you slept?" she asked, pouring a light brown tea to a cup and after a while Law smelled a herbal aroma. "Do you want?"

"Couldn't you do some coffee, Emil-ya?" Law asked, but reached for the cup Emil had filled.

She chuckled shortly, leaned a little closer to him and gave him a look of a loving mother. "Go to sleep sweetheart," she said calmly and as if nothing happened stepped closer to the other chair and sat on it.

"Are you trying to kick me out or just worried?" Law asked - it was so ridiculous he overlooked the fact she'd ordered him.

"I'm trying to kick you out," Emil admitted casually and reached for Law's hat which was still on the table, "hoping you would forget about your hat," she added, putting the headwear on her head and presenting Law a huge, toothy smile. The hat was a little too big for her so it slid down until it stopped on the bridge of her nose.

At moments like that, when Emil behaved like some careless idiot Law knew, he wondered if she's a kid or a grown up woman. "Don't expect that, Emil-ya," he said, pulling the hat off her head and putting it on his own.

"That's bad," Emil murmured, inflating her cheeks a little and looking away, "I like your hat," she admitted and reached for her cup of tea.

"You have a thing for furry things, don't you Emil-ya?" Law more stated than asked and started gathering his tools back to the drawers.

"I do," Emil admitted with a pleased smile – it was partly obscured by the cup as she sipped her tea, but it was still visible. "That's why I adore Bepo," she confessed with a chuckle. The sparrow chirped angrily from his bowl with grains – he'd already eaten the apple peel. "But you're of course my favorite, Bor," Emil assured, stroking the bird's head, "and I like you as well mister Trafalgar," she added casually.

"Am I at least higher than my own hat?" As soon as those words rolled down Law's tongue, he wondered why he had said them. Was he pulled into Emil's absurdity?

Emil hummed in ponder, looking at Law from over the tea-cup rim. "You're close, mister Trafalgar," she announced with exaggerated seriousness, "but your hat will stay in place while you can climb or fall." She chuckled and placed the emptied cup back on the tray. "So, we are setting sails tomorrow," she said, standing up and pulling off the hoodie, "any suggestions about the time?"

"As soon as the sun rises," Law answered, looking at Emil's stomach with neatly defined muscles – it was exposed as her shirt went up with her hoodie. He noticed a quite long, but very faint scar just above her right hip.

"So all preparations should be done today," Emil presumed, hanged the hoodie on the chair and readjusted the shirt. "Is there anything you need?" she asked, took a head of a human-shaped cookie between her teeth and approached one of cabinets. On her way, she stretched a little, lifting her hands with entwined fingers over her head so they snapped.

"Fresh food supplies would be nice, Emil-ya," Law answered. He put away his now empty tea cup and took one of scalpels, playing with it between his fingers.

"I can take your boys for another hunt today," she suggested taking out the cabinet a sheet of thick paper, a sheet of light leather and a quite long fighting knife. "Or I can fish with Bepo," she added happily, as if she couldn't wait to play with Law's first mate, what probably was true.

"You two can fish once we are at the sea, I'd prefer something different," Law commented, watching as Emil set her things on the table: the leather on the side, but the paper in front of her with the knife on its middle.

"So, boars – they spawned more than usually and they are good," she assumed, reaching for a ruler which was on the table and then for a scalpel Law was playing with, swiftly snatching it away from his rather loose grip. "And maybe some deers I guess," she added casually. Using the back of the scalpel, she traced a straight line in the paper, right below the knife. "I can give you my vegetables, but I'm so low on them there probably wouldn't be enough for even one day for all of you."

"Where do you take your vegetables from?" Law asked, watching as Emil skillfully pressed new lines, creating a pattern for what he assumed was meant to be a scabbard.

"I have a small garden, but mostly I buy them on Floris. Just like other things I can't get here. I spend almost every first week of month there." Emil reached for a pair of scissors and started cutting the pattern out.

"Someone comes here regularly?" Law raised his eyebrow in a slight surprise.

"No. Bor takes me there. He's like an eternal pose between Floris and this island. And before you ask – yes, I could transport my guests this way, but we always spend the night on a really small, rocky island, so I preferred to avoid that this time." She wrapped the pattern around the knife and smiled with satisfaction before taking the sheet of leather. "You'll prepare some nice place for us to sleep, yes?" Emil asked turning her head to Law and at the same time smoothly cutting the leather with the scalpel.

"I'll order to empty a room for you when the crew wakes up. Then you can go for a hunt while your guests move in everything you need. You should sleep onboard tonight, I don't want to wait for anyone." Law said, watching Emil's hands and wondering if his looked the same while he operated. She held the sharp tool precisely and surely, cutting the thick leather with ease reserved only for those who had been doing it for years.

"I agree," Emil said carelessly, with her face still turned to Law instead to her work. At first Law wanted to scold her for looking at him, not at her hands, but he realized there was no difference for her. In her case, it was incredibly easy to forget that she was blind.

"Why do you move your eyes as if you weren't blind, Emil-ya?" he asked casually, resting his heavy head on his fist.

"Because someone told me they look pretty." Emil chuckled happily. "And because it's funny how it confuses people," she added with a grin.

"Monica?" Law asked looking at Emil's face this time. Their hands might look the same, but their faces not – Emil held so cheerful, rather easygoing expression, Law wouldn't be surprised if she started to hum some happy melody, while he probably looked rather sinister.

"Maybe," Emil answered with a small smile and put the scalpel on the table, close to Law's elbow.

"One of those two killed by Kermanilian?" Law tried again.

"Maybe," she said this word exactly the same as earlier. Whether Law didn't guess twice or she could lie pretty well.

"Tell a lie," Law demanded shortly, suspending a yawn. When was the last time he slept? Twenty six hours ago or so. Was his insomnia finally letting him sleep?

"A lie," Emil said happily, but rather quietly and chuckled at a sour expression Law made. "I have three hands, two heads and Bor is a dog," she said calmly. "Happy?"

"Yes," was a quiet answer. Law shifted a little in his chair, leaning comfortably against the tall backrest, and just watched Emil's hands as she beveled the leather, carved it. Minutes were passing quietly, Emil was working, Law was sitting motionlessly save for very small, but constant nods.

Piercing holes for seams, Emil smiled a little. Her little plan - she hadn't been sure about - apparently was working. Ever since she had given Traffy this good for sleep, herbal tea, she had been gradually speaking quieter and slower. She hadn't been adding coal to the slowly fading fire so there was a little bit chilly for her, but surely perfectly for Traffy, who wore a hoodie. Even more: she stood right between him and the fire and she had started humming a slow melody some time after he had stopped asking questions. And her chairs were very comfortably.

Emil put her work away and slowly walked to Traffy – he had been breathing evenly and had closed eyes for a while now. She reached to his face and gently stroked his cheek - it was a bit scratchy due his over-half-day stubble – but he didn't move. Emil grinned. Trafalgar Law, the Dark Doctor, the Surgeon of Death was easier to use than she thought.

She reached for his furry hat and gently pulled it off. Then, suspending a chuckle, she put it on her own head. Just like earlier it slid down to her nose, but she smiled like an idiot – she liked this hat and if it looked as fancy as she imagined, she liked it even more. "How do I look, Bor?" Emil whispered, turning to her feathery friend. He tilted his round head a little, shook it and chirped quietly, but clearly disapproving. "You're right," Emil said, taking the headgear off, "it's too big." She placed the hat on the table, threw few coal chunks into the fire so it wouldn't go out, dressed her hoodie and, with Bor on her shoulder, quickly got outside. Then she directed her steps to the supposedly yellow submarine – Bepo had just woken up.

* * *

A/N: And here go my projects to school...

I've told you there was a long dialogue between Law and Emil xD

I'm not an insomniac and I don't know any and I have no idea if you can put one to sleep like that. If it is possible then 'yay!', if not then... well... deal with it!

**Dhalmi93:** Yes, it is and Law is the mouse... or he's Tom and Emil is Jerry ;P

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: **... WOW. Thanks for all that reviews!  
Congrats on picking Emil's gender so fast.  
We can cling to Bepo with Emil and eventually with Law, if he wants.  
Yes, she's perfect for Law. She's like 'cheerful Law', but it will take some time before they realize that.  
At first I wanted to write a hundred and fifty, but than I made a little bit of math and decided it's too much.  
And thank you once again :)

**NightHunterDeath: **just few more chapters before that. I have to make some more fun of Law.


	12. Chapter 12

At first, when Law woke up, he wasn't sure where he was, but just a moment later all memories of his conversation with Emil came back. Standing up from the swivel chair, Law rubbed his slightly stubbly cheek, but his hand soon went to the back of his stiff neck – after all, sleeping in a chair wasn't the best idea, no matter how comfy this chair was. Looking out a tall window at a bright, snowy scenery, Law wondered what time it was, but unfortunately Emil didn't have a clock in her smithy - this one in the library was probably the only one she had. On the table, right next to the tray and still unfinished scabbard, Law spotted his hat and frowned – he was quite sure he had had it on when he had fallen asleep so Emil had been playing with it again. He wore it, took the drawers with surgical instruments and went outside to the submarine.

It turned out his crew had already eaten their breakfast and they were leaving the mess deck as Law was on his way in from his office where he had left the drawers. Law ordered them to clear two of cluttered cabins and walked inside the almost empty room - only Jess was gathering emptied dishes. Law walked toward the galley to announce Cheri that he wanted his late meal, when Emil walked outside it with a cheerful smile on her face and a tray with breakfast for one in hands. She briefly informed him it was his breakfast, passed him, passed Jess and set the tray on one of tables at the back – exactly in place he usually sat. Only now it struck him that she was aware of all his and his crew movements; on a battlefield it surely was very convenient, but in everyday live – it was creepy. No wonder she lived alone – Law wouldn't want to be constantly overflowed by some kinds of information.

While Law was eating, Emil was helping Jess with dishes. They were talking about weapons the whole time and it was kind of funny that Jess, with all those information about forging Emil had been giving him, still didn't figure out that Emil was a blacksmith – he could be a walking encyclopedia, but was rather dense. Knowing the rest of his crew, Law was sure they had started placing bets about it.

Once those two were done with cleaning, Jess went outside, but Emil disappeared inside the galley – probably to talk about cooking with Cheri. Emil had been hanging out with every member of the Heart Pirates, but, after Bepo, she had been spending the most of her time with the youngest one or the okama cook.

When Law was about to finish his meal, Emil walked outside the galley, laughing at something she had been talking about with Cheri, and went straight to him. She took his dishes, informing him that those pirates he instructed to clean up, were almost done. Creepy. Very helpful, but creepy.

After that, they departed – Law went to inform his subordinates about awaiting them hunt, while Emil went to her house to tell her guest to move in. He was checking his medical supplies while she was killing boars. He was patching up the most reckless of his crew, while she was helping gut the prey. They were missing each other through the entire day until the evening.

Law was sitting in his usual spot in the mess deck, watching as most of his little minions were setting the room for a dinner. Slowly there was more and more people, sounds and aromas. Bepo sitting right next to Law, clink of cutlery, coffee right under his nose. The little circus troupe, Cheri scolding Norris for dropping a plate with toasts, a tureen with stew on the table.

Penguin and Shachi burst through the door, dragging Emil between them. Since those two had found out Emil's gender, they had been rather flustered around her, but apparently they got over it. With their arms hooked under Emil's armpits they pulled the not cooperating, but not opposing woman through the entire mess deck to their usual spots which happened to be at the same table as Law's. Most to the amusement of the entire crew, they were scolding Emil for 'trying to skip the most important meal of the day'. Only when they got closer Law noticed that a content of Emil's rather big backpack was clanging with each their step as if there was something metal of glass inside.

"Are you trying to lose some weight, Emil?" Penguin asked, as he and Shachi sat Emil on a chair opposed to Bepo. Only now, when Law got to see her face, he noticed there was a little bit of amusement, but mostly a hopeless acceptance and drowsiness. Law wasn't really surprised – it was a little past her usual time to sleep.

"Yeah, I'm trying to go from bones to fishbones," she said with a little chuckle and a wide smile. "Are you happy now?" she asked as the duo took of her backpack and yawned widely.

"Yeah." Shachi said briefly, shaking a little the backpack and obtaining a jingle.

"Great." Emil let herself fall face forward until her forehead hit an empty plate in front of her. "Good night," she added as if this plate was the softest pillow. At the same time Bor flew out her hood and sat on the rim of her glass.

"You're going to sleep here?" Penguin asked with a laughter, sitting beside her. Emil slowly, starting from the shoulders instead of the head, lifted herself up and faced the second mate, leaning a little forward. "You know Penguin…" she started with rather serious tone and face, "I'm a true master in bed," she finished with flirtatious smirk and lazily placed her head back on the 'pillow'. This obviously caused a wave of blushes on almost everyone's within earshot cheeks and not so obvious chuckle from Law. "I can sleep in every position," Emil continued, her voice very clear in the silenced room. Her tone was so casual, Law wondered for a while if she was aware of an impact she just had on his crew. For a very short while he needed to notice that her cheeks moved a little in a small smile.

"Emil…" Shachi cleared his throat and sat on her on her other side than Penguin, the jingling backpack still in his hands, "what's inside?"

"Some of my clothes, blades I was commissioned to do and… stuff…" she said, slowly sitting up and reaching for a ladle in the tureen.

"Blades?!" Jess perked up from his seat two tables away. "Wait…" he blinked rapidly few times before this information sunken in completely. "You're a bladesmith!?" This ignited an outburst of laughter and much quieter wails and a moment later money were passed from hand to hand in more than few places.

"Yeah," Emil admitted calmly, completely ignoring Penguin who handed Schachi few bills just above her head, "and you can look at them, but after the dinner," she finished and stuck a spoonful into her mouth.

"Alright," Jess sat down on his place, satisfied with the answer. But apparently Shachi wasn't.

"Why? I'm sure he can watch them and eat at the same time," he placed the backpack on his lap and its glass content jingled once again. "What's inside?" he asked, slowly untying knots.

"Jars," was a calm answer. "Four to be exact," she added, slowly munching another spoonful of stew.

It was only the second time Law saw Emil drowsy, but first time had been before her sleep, not after. So far he noticed that she wasn't laughing and smiling as much as normally, but she was definitely joking as much. Emil was tickling Shachi's curiosity saying that there was 'something' inside, not specifying what, but not forbidding to look at it. Thus, whatever was in the backpack, it was definitely going to be funny.

"So you wouldn't mind if I take a look," Shachi asked with a stupid grin, already untying all knots. Penguin and almost all around held similar expression.

"Go ahead," Emil answered with a lazy wave on her hand.

Chuckling, Shachi reached inside the backpack and took out a jar. A big jar. With something rather hairy floating inside it. An awkward silence once again fell upon the mess deck. Disturbed looks were jumping between Emil, Law and the jar which Shachi, with a grave-serious face, slowly put in, back to the backpack and looked inside. "Emil… can you tell us… why do you have four human heads in jars?" he asked quietly after a while.

"Haven't I told you I decapitate those who attack me and have a bounty on their heads?" Emil asked with slightly surprised, but generally calm expression. "I was sure I did. Anyway, thank you for the meal." She stood up. "And boys…" She placed her hands on Penguin's and Shachi's heads, pulling them a little closer. "Consider this as a punishment for not letting me sleep." Her lips stretched in a toothy grin. "Good night," she added innocently, grabbed the backpack and, with Bor flying around her, left the mess deck.

"You know Bepo," Law started after a while, loud enough for everyone to catch it, and leaning comfortably against the backrest, "it's nice to finally have onboard someone with similar sense of humor."

* * *

A/N: Conclusion: let Emil have her beauty sleep xD

**10th Squad 3rd Seat**: thank you for pointing it out, for some reason I always have problem with that word. And yes, it was kind of cute :)

**NightHunterDeath:** Law's face is good as it is... I can't wait for others reactions :D


	13. Chapter 13

Emil was bored. She had woken up a quite long time ago, but since then she had been lying in the same place, in her narrow bunk, in her rather small cabin. Listening to Zolia's, Mia's and Nina's even breaths, Emil wondered how to entertain yourself. Everyone were asleep. Bepo was lying flat on his back. Jess was sleeping on his stomach, but with his ass sticking up. Penguin and Shachi were rolling from side to side, probably haunted by some kind of nightmares – about severed heads for example. Norris's right hand and leg were hanging from the edge of his bunk, touching the floor. Stan and Flynn were sprawled like starfishes. The rest was more or less curled up to their blankets. 'The rest' except for Traffy. Yes, he was in his cabin; yes, he was on his bed, but he was siting and reading a book, not even under his blanket.

Emil puffed her cheeks, thinking about her possibilities. She could go eat something. She could wake up Bor and fly or train with him. She could go bother Traffy… Or kindly ask him to read her something. And she could finally go and take a Log Pose. Or she could do all of those things.

"Bor," she whispered, caressing her friend's head. This little ball, nested right next to Emil's pillow, fluffed its feathers and let go of a faint chirp. "Don't know about you, but I would eat something." Bor chirped once again and bounced forward, but only once. Emil smiled – Bor was always slow to wake up and this was his way to inform her he wanted to go with her.

Emil quietly slipped out her bunk, wincing a little when her bare feet touched a cold, steel floor. She quickly pulled on a pair of socks and a hoodie, then she carefully transported her drowsy friend to the hood and sneaked out to the corridor. Emil's shoeless steps were completely soundless, but steel walls resounded with her careless hums instead. She unhurriedly reached a door to Traffy's cabin and, without further ado, opened it.

"I'm going to make pancakes," Emil announced joyfully, sticking her upper body inside. "Come, if you want some," with those words she backed away and closed the door before the baffled man could say anything. Then Emil continued her walk toward the galley, while Law was blinking at the place where he had saw Emil's head, not sure if that was real or if his mind was playing stupid pranks on him. He put the book away and stood up. Whatever it was, he could go to the galley anyway - if not for pancakes then for a mug of coffee. Well, he wasn't really hungry, but he could obtain new pieces to the puzzle called Emilia. Law snorted shortly – he didn't even know her surname.

The mess deck was empty and dark, but Law heard quiet clangs and happy hums from the equally dark galley. He switched the lights on at the same moment as Emil was pouring milk into a big bowl. "No one ever taught you Emil-ya, to knock before entering someone's room?" Law asked, leaning against the doorframe with his hands and legs crossed – Penguin and Shachi had called it 'you can kiss my shoe' pose, for what they had gained a smack in the back of their heads… with a shoe.

"I was taught this," Emil replied, now adding eggs, "but I knock only when someone is with me and the other side does something that could embarrass them. And your disorientated expression was amusing, mister Trafalgar." With those words she send him a warm smile.

"You're so nice and well-behaved, Emil-ya," Law said sarcastically. He took out a very-well-known container from a nearby cupboard and walked to the coffee maker.

"Please, tell me something I don't know, mister Trafalgar," she replied happily. "For example what did you told after I left the mess deck? Everyone seemed to be rather… terrified." It was kind of funny how the last word didn't fit to her appearance – a bowl with batter in one hand and a whisk in other, dressed in a baggy hoodie, knee-length pants and socks, with bedhead and enthusiastic expression.

"That we have similar sense of humor," Law repeated, putting new filter into the machine.

Emil chuckled shortly and put two pans on a large stove. She didn't expect this answer, but a vision of cooperating with Law seemed… interesting. "I have so board sense of humor I probably could laugh with everyone. But we sure look at some things differently than most of people. Even pirates. Oh, hello Bor." She petted the bird which had jumped out her hood and sat on her shoulder – another addition to Emil's 'I'm completely innocent' appearance.

"What do you think about while killing people?" Law asked casually, leaning lazily against the countertop, with his back to the working coffee maker. At this moment he didn't look sinister either.

"Nothing really specific. Oh look, this one has a nice sword. This one stinks. I'm hungry. Hey! That one has a strange haircut! What should I do for a dinner?" In a fake wonder Emil tilted her head to the side while continuing whisking the batter. "And the most important: argh! Why so much blood? I'll have to clean this up!" she added with an irritated face, but laughed soon after that.

"That's slightly different than I do," Law admitted with a small smile, reaching for a mug.

"Can you do one for me too?" Emil asked, hovering her opened hand just above the surface of the pan. It still wasn't hot enough. "And what do you think while killing people? Let's see how their kidneys looks like?"

Law chuckled, actually taking out the second mug. "Something like that. Or I wonder how much pain they could stand."

"And here's the difference between us," Emil assumed, pouring the batter on the heated pans and covering them with lids, "you like to watch as moths crawl with their wings and legs ripped out, while I simply smack them," she said it as casually as if she was indeed talking about insects, not humans.

"Moths?" Law asked, pouring coffee to the mugs. "I've heard about flies, but moths? Sugar?"

"Yes, one spoonful please," Emil answered, unhurriedly placing ingredients back on their rightful places. "And moths because we sometimes find ones with interesting pattern or shape, which we want to keep alive. I've never heard about someone keeping flies. Have you?"

"No I haven't," Law said, sipping his coffee. It was strange. This homey atmosphere was strange… but nice. Had he ever talked like that with a woman? Probably no. They usually threaten him, flirt or beg for mercy. "How many moths do you have?"

"Four. Or five including Bepo," Emil admitted with a warm smile, but very soon it turned upside down, "but I'll have to let him go." She grabbed handle of the nearer pan and, with a swift motion of her wrist, threw the pancake into the air and caught it, turned to the other side.

"And how many have you killed?" Law asked, watching as Emil repeated the process with the other pan. In his case, coffee was pretty much the only thing he could make which fitted for human consumption. He smiled a little when the sweet aroma of pancakes get through the coffee one.

"I don't know," Emil admitted, shaking her head a little and taking her mug which Law - to her slight surprise - handed her. "Thank you. I've never counted them," she added, leaning against the counter, right next to Law. "Few thousands would be only during my stay here, on this island. I have nighty seven flags from crews I've destroyed, but I killed some more before I started collecting them... How many people in a crew?" She took a deep breath in wonder. "No, I won't tell you. I have no idea," she confessed, turning her head toward Law and giving him a slightly amused smile. Up until now, this man acted rather selfish, but there we go: he made her a coffee, asked for sugar even though he didn't sweetened his own and handed her the mug while she could take it herself – it wasn't much, but still nice.

"What about earlier? Before you came here?" Law asked and took another sip, still watching his interlocutor from over the rim.

"More… Or less," Emil answered, taking out a plate, "I'll tell you this after you meet Monica. But maybe this will satisfy you for now: I killed for the first time when I was seven. Do you want them now?" she asked, pointing at pans, but going to the fridge.

"I'll wait for more. You were taken to the slavery when you were seven – it was the first thing they forced you to do?" Law asked. Emil at this time opened the fridge, clearly interested in six jars with jam on the bottom shelf.

"Any requirements for adding?" Emil asked, turning her head to Law. Pancakes were already done, so she approached the stove and slid them off the pans.

"Not really," Law answered, slightly shaking his head in 'no'.

"Is any of those jams with strawberries?" Pouring new portion of the batter, Emil nodded her head toward the jars.

"Why? You want strawberry one?" Law asked, walking to the fridge. Four of jars were in a dark red shade, but two were orange.

"No," Emil answered briefly, leaning against the fridge door. She wondered what would be Law's reaction to her next sentence. "I'm allergic to them."

"Allergic?" Law repeated with a grin – just as Emil had thought he would. "Finally another of your weakness." Law leaned closer to Emil, looking into her blind eyes, which were directed into his own. "The first is: you're an alluring woman," he added quietly and smiled at a blush which spread across Emil's cheeks. She tensed for a moment, but very soon relaxed back.

"Now, should I wait for another kiss?" Emil asked, tilting her head, smiling sweetly and 'looking' at him from under partly lidded eyes.

'It's a trap!' An alarm in the back of Law's mind went off. If this was any other woman, he would simply lean down those few more centimeters, but Emil - with her passion for messing with people - would surely tell something to turn him down. Trying to take her by surprise was pointless – with her insane haki she would know before even one of his muscles could tense. The moment one corner of Emil's lips slightly went up, creating a cocky grin, Law knew: whatever he say, it would turn out he's the only one flirting. "No," Law said finally, straightening up.

"Great!" Emil slimed like a happy kid, "because I have to flip pancakes." With innocent face she turned to the stove. 'I won' she thought, more sensing than hearing that Law sighed. "Could you please, take a not strawberry jam? Or do I have to open and sniff every one of them?" Emil asked and once Law reached for a jar, she decided to continue their previous conversation. "And answering your question: no, I killed before they took me. Yes, it was on the same day, but before they even appeared."

"Why?" Law asked, placing the peach jam next to the plate with two previous pancakes. He still wasn't giving up – he had already gained few pieces to the puzzle, but asking for more couldn't hurt. Right?

"No telling. Why for a change won't you tell me something about your childhood, huh?" When Emil was done with pans, she reached for the jar, unscrewed it, sniffed the jam and stuck a finger inside.

"That's unhygienic," Law commented, watching as Emil carelessly licked the finger clean.

"Like I care." She shrugged slightly and dipped her finger once again. "It's good and you don't have to eat it. Want to hear a joke?" she asked with a toothy smile.

"Yes?" It wasn't going to be a silly joke about Marines, Law was sure about that.

"What's the difference between thick and runny poop?" Emil asked, once again licking her jam coated finger. She was completely unfazed by the fact she had touched a topic which could be considered as disgusting by some people. But Law didn't belong to them.

"Enlighten me," he said, dipping his own finger in the jam.

"With thick poop you can't do that," Emil leaned her head back and let go a gurgling sound as if she was gargling.

Law snorted. "That's disgusting. You should tell it during lunch," he said licking his own jam coated finger – it was indeed good.

"Finally someone with that kind of humor," she called out dramatically, rising her hands up to the sky. "And that would be enough," she added, turning off the stove and transporting two more pancakes on the plate. Then with amused smile she took it and walked to the door, but on her way, she put the plate on top of her head to reach for her mug with coffee.

"What are you planning?" Law followed Emil to the galley and watched as she waltzed to the nearest table, placed everything on it and took off her hoodie, revealing a light blue sleeveless shirt.

"If you want to eat it normally, suit yourself." Emil tore out a one-bite-sized piece of the hot pancake on the top and dipped it in the still cold jam. "But I was taught one more thing:" with a chuckle, Emil turned to Law, sending him a playful smile, "don't play with your food." She carelessly threw the piece behind. "Trebor." At this word, the sparrow jumped from Emil's shoulder and, changing into his middle form, flew after the piece and caught it long before it could fell to the ground. Then he flew back to Emil, sat on a nearby chair and cawed protractedly, clearly enjoying Emil's touch under the beak. Emil chuckled, bit off a half of the next piece and threw it toward the middle of the room. Bor cawed and flew behind the treat, knocking over the chair.

"If I threw a piece, would you run after it?" Law asked, walking to Emil.

"No," Emil said carelessly. She wanted to pull that serious man in front of her into a silly play, but she wouldn't act as a dog for him. She made a huge step back. "But we can check your aim," she added cheerfully and opened widely her mouth. Law snorted briefly, tore out a piece of pancake and after a brief aiming, he threw it. It would fell in, if not for a gray-black blur which snatched it in the middle.

"Trafalgar Law," Emil started in official tone, "your aim is hopeless," she ended with a laugh. To make it worse, Bor - in his sparrow form - landed on top her head and chirped.

"I'm afraid yours not better, miss Emilia." Law reached for the next piece, dip it in jam and eat himself.

"My aim is flawless," Emil corrected Law with a chuckle while approaching the table, "but I'm not sure if you should get more." She took the whole plate and half-walked half-jumped away. She folded the top pancake in half and took a huge bite. At the same time Bor flew down to the rim of the plate, grabbed the second cake and snatched it away, growing back to his middle form. Emil stopped four steps away from Law, standing lightly on her feet – ready to move in any direction at any moment, With the folded pancake in left hand and the plate in right, holding it in front her chest and offering to him, and an impish expression on her pretty face. "Would you like to dance?"

Law chuckled. In any other case he would simply say 'no' and went away, eventually using his devil fruit abilities to take the plate back, but right now Emil was clearly giving him an opportunity to examine her skills. Or vice versa. Law took a slow step forward and at the same time Emil drew a semicircle on the floor with her foot and took one step back in a ballet-like way. She raised her brows at him. "Trafalgar Law has a hopeless aim and is slow." She smiled at him sweetly. "Let's make it easier for you," she added, readjusting her hold on the plate, so now it was laying on her palm.

"I don't need," Law jumped forward, "that." In the blink of an eye he was right in front Emil, the plate at his fingertips. He felt the cool ceramic, but it disappeared even quicker when Emil spun swiftly and almost rolled down his side, actually lightly touching his ribs. While Law stood up and looked back at her, she calmly walked to the place he had been standing a moment earlier.

"Taking actions while in the middle of a sentence," Emil started, turning to him with a kind smile, "I like that. But it won't work on me. And…" she lifted her left hand with the folded pancake, "if that was a blade, you would be badly wounded," she pointed at Law's side and took a bite of her treat. Law looked down – at his yellow hoodie was a thin, but long stain in the place Emil had touched him.

"It wouldn't be bad," Law judged calmly. He had been fighting with worse wounds – a scratch like that wouldn't hold him down.

"Then maybe one more try?" Emil asked kindly, once again lifting the plate, but now to her eyelevel, holding it on her fingertips. Law jumped forward, with his arms wide opened, this time determined to catch not the plate, but Emil herself. She jumped to him. One heartbeat she had been standing away from him, next she was between his arms, but before he could close them, she was just above the ground with her fist on his abdomen. Carried with his own momentum Law ran into this unexpected obstacle. Losing his breath and balance he flied further, ending with his back on the floor. The moment Law opened his mouth to take a breath, Emil stuck the folded pancake in it.

"Now, you would be dead," Emil said with her head above Law's. She was smiling, but it wasn't a cocky grin of the winner; it was a calm smile of a master watching her favorite student.

"Are you trying to train me?" Law asked, rather surprised. "Why?"

"You're my favorite bear's captain, that's why. I would have problems in the middle of the New World, yet you can't steal some pancakes from me. You would be eaten alive." Emil placed the plate on Law's chest, took the one on top and stood up. "I'm going for a Log Pose. Bor."

'Just how strong this woman is?' Law thought, taking a bite of the pancake, but not bothering to stand up.

* * *

A/N: Yet another late night date, no one other knows about xD

Law should be grateful she didn't dance with him in front of his crew.

And; YAY! Finally a chapter longer than the first :D

(Btw,I wasn't planning this chapter, I planned to go straight to the morning)

(and I was like *and now he kisses her... no! wait! they can't kiss now! Ela for God's sake, think stright!*)

**NightHunterDeath:** So, Law kind of knows how strong Emil is... at least he has a better idea than the others.

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: **yeah, he did... here too... kind of.

**Dhalmi93:** a little less strategy game, but I hope you like it.


	14. Chapter 14

'Norris, yo're a genius. Why haven't I thought about this earlier?' Grinning like a small boy who was going to try his new sling, Norris walked down a corridor arranging an order of the cards in a deck. This deck was a gift from a group of maidens Heart Pirates had met on their journey – on the back was their yellow-black jolly roger, but on the front of each was written a name of one member of the crew. Blushing slightly at the memory of a game they used this deck for, Norris put a card with his own name exactly in the middle. Then maybe…

"I haven't took it, moron!" Just behind a corner, Norris saw Shachi and Penguin – the first was holding the later in a headlock.

"Only you know where I put it! Give!" Shachi jerked Penguin's head. "It!" He did it again. "Back!" And again. "Urgh." Shachi winced as Penguin shoved a fist into his stomach. Using this moment of distraction, the second mate slid his leg behind his friend and forcefully straightening up, tripped him over it. They both fell backwards, but Penguin freed his head and landed with his upper arm hitting Shachi's chest, leaving him breathless.

"If I was going to steal a magazine from you I would take some other one!" Penguin called out and blinked only now noticing an unexpected witness. "Hey, Norris. What do you have?" With a sly smile and a slight blush creeping on his cheeks, Penguin looked at the deck of cards – he had already recognized them.

"A ticked to some fun time," Norris answered with a grin.

"I hope it's for Emil," Penguin said, standing up and approaching Norris, standing on Shachi on his way. "Zolia won't agree and twins as sweet as they are, are way too young," he added with a warning glare.

"Who do yo think I am?" Norris snorted, "of course it's for Emil. Do yo know where she is?" Rising his burning red eyebrows, Norris looked at Penguin then at Shachi who was getting up from the floor.

"Probably in the control room. She took children there almost as soon as she woke up this afternoon." Shachi approached them, rubbing his chest. "Lucky Flynn, she had been talking with him for hours, asking how to maneuver our ship. So how did you arrange them?" he asked pointing at the deck.

"Ha," Penguin snorted angrily and shoved his elbow into Shachi's side. "Flynn is lucky, but she was asking YOU how the engine works through the entire morning."

"Phi, she apparently knows who's the best engineer here," Shachi puffed his chest, but his pride was crushed as Penguin put a headlock on him.

"You were sitting next to her and I was on my watch." Still holding down his friend, Penguin looked at Norris. "So? What's the setup?"

"Me in the middle, yo two right next to me," Norris started, turning around and heading to the control room. Shachi and Penguin followed him, looking curiously over his shoulders at the deck. "Then Flynn, Ben, Kyoya…" Norris recited happily, looking at cards from the middle alternately to the front and to the end. "… on top are Cheri and Stan and at the bottom are Bepo and captain." Norris ended with a grin. "Just perfect!"

"I would swap me with you, but I guess… Miki!" Shachi called out at the boy who had almost crashed with him. Laughing like an idiot, Miki stopped only few meters in front them, turned around and with toothy grin held out a wrench. Shachi looked down to his side, a wrench which should be attached to his belt was gone. "Miki! Give it back!" the pirate ordered angrily, holding out his hand.

"No!" Miki spun around and, still laughing, ran down the corridor.

"Come back you snot!" Red on his face, Shachi ran after the kid. "That's it! Once I get my hands on your dirty ass, I swear I'll make sure you will never steal a thing from me!" Chasing this little monkey, Shachi saw as he jumped down the staircase, landing lightly on the floor below. "I'm going to tan your back with that wrench and no one will stop me. You hear that!?" Shachi ranted running down the stairs in more conventional way.

"Emil won't let you, creep!" Miki shouted, pulled a handle to a door at the end of the lower corridor, run inside and sticking out his tongue, slammed it. Shachi ran to the door, opened it forcefully and jumped inside, ready to murder this shrimpy thief.

"You little piece of!..." Shachi bit his tongue as soon as he noticed where he was. Or rather who was there.

"Hey Shachi," Emil greeted him with a warm smile. She was sitting, with her shoeless legs crossed, on one of two helmsman chairs. On the other was Flynn with whom she apparently had been talking a moment ago. Miki, with cocky grin and the wrench in hands, was sitting between Emil's legs and with her hands around him as she held a steaming mug. Other than those three, inside were also twins, too fascinated in colorful schools on the other side of a huge porthole to notice his sudden appearance, and Zolia who in turn looked at him slightly surprised.

"Emil," Shachi started, pointing at the brat, trying his best to restrain his anger, "this little… boy on your lap stole my wrench."

"Miki? Is that true?" Zolia stepped forward with worry all over her face.

"No mom!" Miki called out hiding the wrench behind his back so Zolia couldn't see it.

Shachi opened his mouth to, to put it mildly, call Miki a liar when he noticed that Emil's hand hovered over the boy's head for a brief second, before falling on it heavily – just the way Emil had done few times to him and Penguin before saying them something deadly serious. "Miki, you shouldn't lie to you mother," Emil whispered with a calm smile and stroked his black hair. Miki looked at Zolia and opened his mouth, but closed them back and glanced at Emil, who only raised her eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, mom," Miki said quietly, looking up at his mother and showing her the wrench. "I did stole it."

"Miki," Zolia sighed. "Please' give it back and apologize to mister Shachi."

The boy looked down and turned around on Emil's lap so now he was facing the irritated pirate. He handed out the wrench which the other immediately snatched away. "I'm sorry, mister… old man. Ouch!" Miki grabbed his nose, which tip had been flipped by Emil.

"Mister what, Miki?" Emil asked calmly, raising both her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry mister Shachi," Miki said faintly, hanging down his head.

"Oi kid," Shachi started angrily, waving around his wrench-armed arm, "if you think that simple…"

"Shachi," Emil said calmly, but successfully stopping the man, "please."

"Arrg alright," Shachi surrendered. He really had hard time to not fulfill her requests. "But that's the last time you slip away, kid," he added, waving the wrench in front Miki's face.

"Now sweetheart," Emil wrapped her arms around Miki, hugging him tightly, "I have a request for you." She cupped his ear with one hand whispered something to it. They all could see as a surprise widened Miki's eyes and then mixed with admiration. He turned his head to look straight into Emil's blind, amused eyes.

"How…" Miki started, an utter puzzlement in his voice and on his face, "Do you…"

"How do I know?" Emil finished for him, "I know a lot of things Miki. Now, off you go!" she shooed him from her lap.

"But…" Miki turned to her.

"No 'but' sweetheart," Emil interrupted him, ruffling his unruly hair. "Go." The boy nodded slowly, turned on his heel and ran outside the control room.

"I envy you Emil," Zolia confessed in a tired voice, "you have so good hand for kids. Miki rarely listens to me."

"I can reach an agreement with everyone, Zolia," Emil comfortably leaned back in her seat and sipped her tea. "And I like kids."

"Agreement, huh?" Flynn laughed shortly, "I doubt those you've killed are happy with your agreement," he sent Emil a lopsided grin, holding a cigarette in the other corner of his lips.

"It's a shortcut I use when I'm not interested in agreement," Emil explained sweetly. "Hello Norris, Penguin. How were your dreams last night?" she turned her cheerful face to the two men who decided to finally enter the room. The first was in good spirit, but the second looked as if he had a headache.

"Please Emil, just don't…" Penguin asked, pressing his right temple.

"Heads in jars?" Emil asked joyfully, with an impish smile visible over the rim of her mug.

"Leave it," Shachi said with grievous face, elbowing his friend. "She asked me the same in the morning. And she had a great time."

"Anyway!" Norris approached Emil in few quick steps and offering Emil a fan of cards. "Chose one," he demanded with a broad grin.

"What is it?" Emil chuckled with a raised eyebrow.

"Just pick one, Em," Flynn said, amusement clear in his voice, and puffed a circle of smoke.

"You know what's going on?" Emil asked, pointing at the deck.

"It's a game, Em." Flynn explained with a deep chuckle. "Just choose one and make them happy."

"Ok." Emil reached to the fan, but hovered her hand over its middle. She hummed in wonder and smirked a little, sensing as Norris's, Penguin's and Shachi's heads were moving a little, following her hand. When Emil decided that she was delaying too long, she swiftly spun her wrist and reached for the card at the very bottom. Emil's smile grew even wider when she noticed the trio's terrified looks.

"No!" Norris snatched the card from Emil's grip. "Not this one!"

Emil watched them for a while, trying to stay serious – trying, but not too hard. "Why not?" Now, she definitely wanted this one card.

"Just no!" Shachi took the card and hid it in his pocket. "Pick other one." He lightly pushed Norris to Emil and he offered the fan once again.

Emil unfolded her legs and stood up from her swivel chair. Then she slowly approached Shachi with her lips tightened into a thin line and unabashedly reached into the pocket. "I want this one." Emil said joyfully, enjoying a despair at the trio's faces. "Flynn, what's so special about this one?" She showed the card to the helmsman.

"A shortcut to a month of laundry duty for them, Em," Flynn explained with a chuckle and puffed out yet another white cloud. "Or something worse, not sure."

"I want it even more!" Emil announced happily. The trio groaned and glared at Flynn who only shrugged them away. Norris snatched the card once again, put it into the deck and furiously shuffled it. Then he made a fan and offered it to Emil with a utter determination on his angular face. Emil slowly reached for a fourth card from the end and really slow, with a smug smile, pulled it out. "I've told you guys - I want this one," she said quietly, but with a clear chuckle, showing the front of the card which - unknowingly to her – showed a name 'Trafalgar Law'.

* * *

A/N: Cliche, I know xD

The next chapter will be rather short only because I decided to be kind of mean and cut this one here.

If someone wonders how Flynn looks like... I don't know... in my head he has a cowboy hat, a cigarette between lips and that's all xD

**NightHunterDeath:** I don't know when they will. Law will reach the 'I'm in love' mode much earlier than Emil

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: **I only hope those mistakes weren't the cause of your headache... ( - that's sounds weird) and I have some more dances planned :)

And apparently I don't know a lot of things.


	15. Chapter 15

"Ok," Shachi said to the surprise of his two co-conspirators and pointing threateningly at Emil, "but you have to promise you'll make sure captain won't punish us for this. It's your fault."

"I promise," Emil said shortly, raising her right hand and wondering what did Traffy had to do with this farce.

"Anyone knows where captain is right now?" Penguin asked, sighing heavily.

"In his office," Emil answered and tilted her head a little. "Why?" She still had no idea what was going on – just some kind of game they could be punished for. Well, she promised to protect them from Traffy and she always kept her word, but… there was nothing about her getting her incredibly gentle hands on their fragile necks.

"You come with us." Penguin and Shachi, as few times before, took Emil under her arms and started pulling her outside.

"My tea!" Emil called out desperately and accompanied by a choir of chuckles and giggles, got out of the grip and ran to the chair where she had left the mug. Penguin and Shachi walked to her with serious determination on their faces, without a word hooked their arms under Emil's armpits and started pulling her outside, but this time Norris joined them, lifting Emil's legs at ankles. Emil wouldn't lie: she kind of enjoyed this treatment – carried by three men whose company she liked. "Will you finally tell me where you're carrying me?" Emil asked, casually sipping her honey-sweetened black tea.

"To the captain," Norris answered, lifting her feet even higher so it was easier for the other two to carry her up the stairs.

"Why?" Emil asked. For a brief moment she wondered if Norris was looking at her bottom, but she quickly came to conclusion that even if he did, he wasn't able to see much due to her baggy trousers.

"It's a part of the game," Shachi answered shortly, but with very faint chuckle.

"And this game is…?" Emil sang, stubbornly trying to get some more information. She didn't really care though – sooner or later she would get to know, but was curious how long they would avoid that.

"Captain will tell you," this time it was Penguin's turn to answer.

"And will Traffy know what's going on?" Emil asked with a chuckle. They all stopped in a half step and each of them snorted.

"Traffy?!" Shachi laughed out. "Since when are you calling captain like that?!"

"Even before I met you," Emil answered casually and sipped her drink. It wasn't as easy as earlier, because the trio was shaking as they were barely refraining themselves from laughing. "Monica calls him that and I took it from her. But I've never called him Traffy in his presence – I'm saving it for later, so please do not tell Traffy," she ended with a chuckle and sipped the tea once again.

They all snorted in union. "Ok, let's go." Penguin pulled his part of Emil's body, causing the other two to follow him. "And answering your question: captain will know what's going on when you show him this card."

"By the way," Norris started, staring at Emil's face, "how did yo know where this card is?"

"It's easy to track a presence of one, specific card," Emil answered with a smug smile. "Hello Bepo!" she called out happily, lifting her hand and almost slipping from Shachi's hold. Almost.

"Hello there," Bepo answered. He had just left Law's office and now approached the odd group. "What are you doing?"

"We are playing a game," Emil answered happily, holding up the card so the first mate could see it.

"It that…?" Bepo asked, frowning and stepping closer to make sure.

"Yes it is," Norris cut in. "And now help us, Bepo."

"With?" Bepo asked, tilting a little his furry head and unknowingly igniting an inner squeal in Emil. He was too adorable for his own good.

"I think they want to throw me inside captain's office, Bepo." Emil answered with a broad smile, leaning her head back so her face was visible to him.

"Do you want to be thrown there, Emil?"

"Of course she wants to!" Norris called out angrily, gaining a quiet 'I'm sorry' from Bepo and causing Penguin and Shachi to move. They quickly covered the distance between them and the door to Law's office, opened them in a full swing, threw Emil inside with a loud 'sorry' and closed the door. "Lights!" Norris reminded. They all looked at each other and after a brief moment Shachi ran to the nearest fuse box.

* * *

"Emil-ya?" Law stood up from his seat and looked over the desk at the floor just behind the furniture. Some individuals in his crew had the weirdest ideas, but it was the first time they threw someone to his office; on the operating block – sure, but not to his office. And why of all people was it Emil?

"I'm fine!" Emil laughed out, lifting up a mug with a dark drink. She was sitting rather comfortably on the floor with her back against the desk. "And my tea too," she added cheerfully and took a sip.

"Emil-ya, what's the meaning of your sudden appearance?" Law asked, sitting back on his swivel chair.

"I'm not sure," she lifted her other hand in which she held a playing card with Heart Pirate's jolly roger on its back. "They wanted me to choose a card and when I did, they pulled me here, telling only that you'll explain it to me."

Law reached for the card and pulled it from between Emil's forefinger and middle finger. He barely read his own name on the front, when the light went out. "Hell," he muttered and reached to his desk lamp – it wasn't working either.

"Is it that bad?" Emil asked with a slight disbelief. She was completely unaware of this sudden change in the room.

"No. They turned off the lights," Law said with an irritation clear in his voice and stood up, ready to cut those three he had seen into thin slices. More from the memory than seeing anything, Law walked around the desk and headed to the door. But something or someone grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Please, don't" Emil asked, lightly tugging him back, closer to the desk. "I promised them you won't, I'm quoting: punish them for this."

Law laughed shortly, without happiness. As much as he disliked being inferior to anyone, he had a pretty good idea that she was able to stop him right away – if not, his submarine probably would end up in catastrophic state due to their fight and damaging a submerged submarine from the inside was never a good idea. "And you always keep your word, Emil-ya," he said sourly, letting her lead him closer. Now he probably stood right in front her as she took his second hand too.

"I do," Emil admitted with amusement. "Now, could you please tell me what's going on with those cards?" she asked, slowly playing with Law's hands – she liked them, they were much warmer than her always unpleasantly cool ones. Emil also wondered how much Traffy was able to see.

"This deck is a gift from a brothel we visited some time ago," he started softly and stopped, curious about Emil's reaction, but she didn't say a thing and continued to lightly caress his hands. "On each of those cards is a name of one of us… Except for Jess – he wasn't with us back then." Law asked himself why was he enjoying Emil's treatment, but he wasn't sure himself. "They use them to determine a partner to this 'twelve minutes in heaven' game."

Emil snorted shortly. "Seriously?" she asked with a chuckle. The idea of pirates playing a game for teens on hormone rush was funny itself, but at the moment Law had announced that, she had started doing funny faces at him – conclusion: he couldn't see a thing.

"I know," Law chuckled himself. "My question is: how did you end up here, with me? They usually put my card on the very bottom. No one takes them." Law frowned slightly – only now he noticed he had wrapped his hands around Emil's smaller and colder ones as if he tried to warm them up.

"I do," Emil repeated cheerfully. "This usually destroys a setup for a magic trick. At the beginning I thought it was a magic trick," she explained with amusement. She swung their hands a little, happy that Law didn't let go – his hands were so warm.

"So what are you going to do now, Emil-ya?" Law asked with a barely audible chuckle. He was finally able to catch her face – a slightly brighter spot on a dark background.

"Do you think…" Emil started slowly and puffed her cheeks a little in wonder. "Do you think they expect us to do something?"

No one saw them that night in the galley and mess deck. No one knew about the conversation they had held in Emil's smithy. Besides that, since the test in the hot springs, their interactions hadn't been really… indicating. "I doubt that," Law admitted, "they probably think we will sit and wait until time's up. Eventually that you're trying to hold me down from killing them," he ended with a chuckle.

Emil hummed in wonder, slightly tilting her head. She smirked a little at the imagination of the trio's faces. "What about giving them more that they can stand?" she asked happily.

"You mean?" Law frowned a little. Was she going to tell what he had thought?

"Making out? Yes," Emil admitted with amused determination. She was serious about this idea. This time she wasn't going to mess with Law, but with those three on the other side of the door.

Law quickly summed in his mind all for and against… Or rather all for and none against. "Strip," he said shortly, wondering how far she was able to go for a stupid prank. Law took off his hat, placed it on the desk and attempted to pull of his hoodie. When he was done, Emil carelessly threw her own hoodie and shirt somewhere behind him, then she took his hat and placed on her head. Of course it slid down to her nose, but it didn't obscure a broad, toothy smile accompanied by a chuckle – she clearly liked this headwear. In a faint light which leaked through those narrow gaps between the door and the doorframe, Law was finally able to see Emil's much smaller form, clothed only in her too big pants which hung low on her hipbones, too tight bandage bra which wasn't able to flatten her breasts completely and his slightly too big hat. The view which Law oddly enjoyed.

"Are you going to take a lead?" she asked innocently, rubbing her cheeks to add some color. "Or should I do it?"

'Hell no,' Law thought, leaning down and kissing Emil forcefully - no matter how small it was or how illusive, if he had an occasion to take control over this unruly woman, he would take it. Emil immediately caught up to Law's speed, kissing him back. She parted her soft lips and let him inside her honey flavored mouth. Savoring Emil's taste as their hot tongues danced together and enjoying her touch as she wrapper her slender arms around his head, Law slid his hands down her back and under her thighs and suddenly lifted her up, deciding that their height difference was way too uncomfortable. Emil instantly wrapped her legs around his hips and forcibly pulled him closer. Law let go of a deep chuckle, gladly accepting Emil's heated body against his naked chest. Never fully breaking the breathy kiss, Law took a half step forward and sat Emil on the desk top. Listening to Emil's pleased hums, Law leaned her back.

* * *

"Can yo hear anything?" Norris asked quietly. He and Shachi were standing right to the office door, with their ears plastered to the flat surface.

"Not really, they were talking earlier, but now… nothing," the other admitted, shaking his head.

"That's a good sign," Penguin pointed out. He and Bepo were standing few steps away. "Captain hasn't come out by now, so he probably won't kill us for that. Emil had to convince him."

"Or knock him out," Norris added, remembering as Emil had hit him this morning when he, completely by accident, walked to the bathroom while she, Zolia and kids were bathing. He had been unconscious till the lunch, but he had a disturbing feeling Emil could knock him out for much longer if she wanted to.

"Do you think they… kiss?" Shachi asked with a small frown and barely visible red hue over his cheeks, which deepened as he imagined himself in Law's role.

"Nah, they probably just sit and wait," Norris said, waving his hand dismissively. "Captain is not interested in Emil as a woman and from all of us Bepo is the one she's interested the most." Norris ended with a glare in the first mate direction.

"I'm sorry," Bepo said quietly, hanging his head down and the rest could swear there was a dark cloud hovering over him.

"Anyway," Penguin sighed, looking at his watch. "Time's up. Norris, go inside."

"Me?" Norris asked with a small tone of panic and pointed at himself. Whatever was happening inside, he wasn't going to get close to the captain for a while.

"Yes you," Shachi confirmed happily, opened the door and forcefully pushed Norris inside.

The redhead somehow managed to keep his balance, stopping few steps behind the door. Blinking rapidly, he tried to identify anything in that room beside the light patch on the floor which he was standing in the middle right now. He recognized a pair of legs, clothed in Law's spotted jeans. The captain was standing right in front his desk, with his back to Norris. "Captain, Emil, the time's up," Norris said unsurely. 'She knocked him out!' was Norris's firsts thought as he noticed that Law was lying on the desk. But then he blushed furiously as he saw what, or who, was between Law and the desk: half naked Emil with Law's palm under her loosened bandage and his head in the crock of her neck.

"Law," Emil breathed out, lifting her head and smiling a little at a slight shudder which had traveled up Law's spine when his name had rolled down her lips. "I'm afraid our time is over," Emil whispered, but in this silence around them, probably even Shachi and Penguin at the door could hear her.

Law kissed Emil's collarbone one more time and slowly, without depriving himself from her body heat on his torso, looked back at the open door. The bright light from the corridor hit his eyes and forced him to frown, but from his subordinates' point of view it probably looked as if he was glaring at them. "Be gone," Law said coldly and turned back to Emil's already spotted neck. He had been enjoying it more that he had thought and wasn't going to end it so soon.

"Law," Emil said softly, chuckling slowly and bringing his face closer to hers. "We should follow the rules," Emil continued, wondering if Law was such a good actor or if he really got into it. Had she overdone it as some point? Whatever. It WAS pleasurable.

With their faces so close, the sides of their noses were touching and they could feel each other's sweet breath on parted lips. Looking straight into Emil's lidded eyes, barely visible from under the rim of the furry hat, Law knew she was going to end it here – if not nice and cooperatively then just suddenly slipping off his grip – but… Law leaned forward and kissed those delicious lips of hers one more time. Then, not breaking the kiss, he stood up, lifting her with him. "We should continue it later," he said huskily, dipping his nose in Emil's soft hair right next to her ear.

"Maybe," Emil said with a chuckle and planted a light kiss on his temple. "When your kids won't look, Law," whit those words she put his hat on his head. Then she hopped down to the floor and, caressing Law's torso diagonally from his right collarbone to the left hipbone, she passed him with a satisfied smile and walked to her hoodie in a dark corner.

Only now, leaning against the desk with his hands crossed, Law took a good look at his subordinates. Except for Bepo, each of them was completely speechless and was blushing furiously, although the most amusing was Norris whose face was redder than his hair and had a short trail of blood under his nose. Bepo on the other hand seemed to be a little confused, but that's all. His sight was jumping between Law and Emil who had already dressed herself and took her mug from the desk.

"It was indeed a funny game," Emil said cheerfully, casually passing the pirates. "Thank you," she added happily, waving her hand and disappearing from Law's view as she turned behind the door. The trio stayed motionless for a while, before looking at each other and starting their chase after the woman, shouting at her to stop and probably intending to convince her for another round.

Law reached for his own hoodie and wore it. "Yes, Bepo?" he asked softly, encouraging his best friend to ask the question he clearly had.

"Captain, are you…" Bepo started unsurely, following Law as he walked outside to the fuse box. "Are you in relationship with Emil?"

"No," was a plain and truthful answer.

"And do you want to be?" Bepo asked, tilting his head.

Law slowed down for a really brief moment, before continuing the walk in his normal pace. Sure, Emil was an intelligent, strong and interesting woman; she attracted him and those few minutes of the game, he had indeed spent in heaven, but… wasn't this only temporary? All women he had slept with were alluring, but with none of them he wanted a stable relationship. Was Emil different?

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A/N: Haha, I definitely can't anticipate the length of my stories! I have no idea how it happened that this chapter is longer than the previous xD

Btw, I always wonder what is Emil like from the other side… I mean, I know her, her story and all… but what is she like from Law's and yours point of view? Do you see her as I think you do? Did I made you want to know her past? Does she seem natural or fake?

**10th Squad 3rd Seat:** Everyone wants this card xD

**NightHunterDeath:** I hope you enyojed this game (there will be one more, different game, but shoosh about this).

**AiryAquarianAlchemist:** Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoy me OC's

* * *

If any of you have an account on deviantART and likes to draw, I'm holding a small giveaway/contest (not sure how to call it xD) link is on my profile page


	16. Chapter 16

A big commotion in the mess deck woke Emil up. She concentrated on a watch she had in her backpack and noticed it was half past eight – it was at the end of the scheduled breakfast time and after less than three hours of sleep for her. She whined into her pillow, thinking that if this journey to Floris was going to end as she wanted it, she would have to change her sleep pattern to fit it to the Heart Pirate's routine. Without lifting her face from her soft pillow, Emil reached over the bed edge to the floor where she had left a pair of socks. Sleepily pulling them on, Emil wondered why Penguin and Shachi were fighting with each other – was it because of something she hadn't notice while being asleep or because of this magazine Miki had stolen from Shachi, but had forgotten – intentionally, or not - to return it alongside other things as she had asked him yesterday. Not caring about changing from her pajama and deciding to let Bor sleep, Emil walked outside her cabin and into the adjacent one. She made a beeline for Terrence's bed, lifted the mattress and reached for the magazine. Wondering what could it be about - but having a rather fitting idea - Emil rolled it loosely and directed her soundless steps to the mess deck.

Law was probably the only one who noticed Emil's appearance as soon as she stepped into the loud room – the rest was too occupied with observing Penguin's and Shachi's show and placing bets. Calmly sipping his bitter drink, Law followed this clearly drowsy woman with his lazy gaze. Scratching the back of her head, Emil approached the second table from entrance, where most of her guests were sitting. She lifted her right hand, armed in a rolled up dirty magazine with a topless woman on the cover, and lightly tapped Miki's head, gaining his attention. Then Emil, leaned down and whispered something into the boy's ear, causing him to slightly blush in shame, but left before he could respond. Yawning widely and stretching a little, Emil slowly walked to the fighting duo, gaining more and more attention with each her step, but staying completely ignored by Shachi who was trying his best to put a headlock on Penguin. Everyone watched as Emil lifted the magazine, stopped it in midair and swiftly smacked the back of Shachi's head, sending him on the floor, but before he could bounce from it, the magazine fell once again, this time on Penguin's head.

"Emil!" Shachi called out angrily, rolling down his equally irritated friend and rubbing the sore place. "What was that for?!"

"You've woke me up," Emil answered with a yawn and dropped the magazine on his lap, before unhurriedly walking away to the table Law was sitting at, with Bebo right next to him.

"Why did you have it, Emil!?" Shachi asked loudly, clearly embarrassed and surprised, holding up the dirty magazine.

"A little pink imp brought it to me and I couldn't get my eyes off it, sorry Chi," Emil answered softly, as if that could be a truth, and at the same time Penguin punched his friend with an annoyed 'I've told you!', causing yet another fight. "Good morning mister Trafalgar, Bepo," Emil said quietly and crawled on the bear's lap. "I hope you don't mind me here."

"No at all, you can sit here," Bepo answered, obvious to jealous looks fired in his direction, and wrapped his arms around Emil's much smaller body. He liked her – how she cared for him, her laugh, the way she scratched him behind his ears, to swim and fish with her, her desserts and the vibe she had – somewhat similar to the captain's.

"That's good," Emil murmured pleasantly and nuzzled even closer. She was comfortable, she was warm and a gentle rocking as Bepo's chest rose and fell with his even breath, was slowly sending her back to the world of dreams.

"Wouldn't it be better for you, Emil-ya to sleep in your cabin, not here?" Law asked casually. Yesterday, he had decided to keep his contacts with Emil at the unsuspecting minimum. His participation in Emil's joke had been a mistake – it indeed had been pleasurable while it lasted, but it had caused his closest friends to ask about his intentions toward her. While Bepo had accepted a simple 'no', Penguin and Shachi had been persistent. They were questioning each his move and sentence toward Emil and were completely deaf to his explanation that this 'affection' which existence they foolishly tried to prove, was nothing more than his stupid curiosity and would disappear as soon as it would be satisfied.

"Worried about our sweet Em, captain-chan?" Cheri asked with a giggle and a wink, setting a plate with scrambled eggs in front Emil. As soon as little birds had brought him a rumor that Law and Emil were into each other, Cheri had blessed their relationship and convinced everyone that they were a perfect match. If mutual lack of interest was making it perfect, then yes - Trafalgar Law and he-still-didn't-know Emilia were a destined couple.

"Mister Trafalgar is just jealous, Cheri," Emil announced happily, reaching over Bepo's arms. Instead of leaning closer to the table, she took a plate in her hands, so she could stay in the bear's embrace. "I'm taking away his favorite mate's attention."

Bepo's head swiftly turned to Law and after a split of second his arms left Emil and shot toward the man. "No! Please don't be jealous captain!" Bepo shouted, hugging Law and causing a wave of laughs to spread around them.

"Bepo, I'm not jealous," Law announced in a grave tone, shooting daggers at Emil who had jumped from the bear's lap so swiftly, she had had to know how her statement would result. Now she sat on the opposite seat to Law, next to Cheri, with wider smile than anyone's around.

"I think captain-chan was jealous because you were sitting on Bepo's lap, not his, sweetie," Cheri giggled, hugging Emil and nuzzling his cheek to her head.

"I'm not jealous, Christopher-ya," Law repeated, this time coldly, wondering for which sins he was sentenced to those two's company. Christopher and Emilia – the only two on the yellow submarine who weren't afraid to make fun of Law and could cook something more than plain pasta. Punishing them would lead to worsening of the food which in turn would lead to a huge drop in morale.

Emil swung her legs and swiftly sat on the okama's lap. Briefly turned to Law with a laid-back expression, before looking at a slightly curious, but definitely amused Cheri. "I'm afraid hubby is not jealous," she said casually, shrugged and cheerfully reached for her plate. Unlike some man who was stubbornly denying their supposed relationship, Emil took it rather warmly. A rumor about her being paired up with the most important man on the ship had its benefits – the rest stopped asking for kisses… well, the rest without one adamant pirate with a fan of cards who decided to choose this moment to approach them. "Norris, no," Emil said to him even before he opened his mouth. Law smiled a little at this view. He had wanted to say something at the 'hubby' comment, but Norris apparently was irritating Emil as much as this whole farce was irritating him.

"Come one, Emil. Just one more turn," Norris whined, waving the fan in front him.

Emil leaned toward the redhead and directed her blind eyes right into his brown ones. "I. Refuse," she said slowly. The other two from the conspiring trio had let go pretty easily, directing their attacks at Law, but Norris had been gradually getting under Emil's skin.

"Please," Norris asked and pursued his lips like a small, cute girl who made puppy eyes to get a balloon, but there was one serious problem: Norris was far away from being a small, cute girl.

"No," Emil growled. "I'll tell you a secret, Norris: it's really hard to irritate me, but you're on a straight path to accomplish that," she said, finishing her meal. This pirate was so lucky to be in Bepo's crew, otherwise he would have his spine snapped a long time ago.

"Then maybe a kiss," Norris suggested with a cheerful smile and pointed at his cheek. Except for him, everyone around could swear Emil was going to punch him, but instead of that she placed her elbow on the table, somewhere between her and Norris.

"Let's arm-wrestle Norris," Emil said in happy tone, her irritation completely gone. "If you win, I'll kiss you, but if you don't win, you'll drop this topic. Agree?"

"Ok," Norris answered with a satisfied chuckle. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the arm at least twice as thick as Emil's and placed it on the table. "Captain, would you do the honors?" he asked with a happy grin. Law sighed and reached out to place his palm on top their linked hands. They were so different in size, temperature and locus - while Norris's fingers were surely wrapped around Emil's whole hand, she seemed to aim for his thumb.

The mess deck was almost quiet, only whispered bets were hearable as everyone, even Penguin and Shachi, were looking at amused Emil and happily determined Norris. Then Law lifted his palm and everyone were hit by a loud scream. "Emil!" Norris shouted, jerking his hand out the grip. "What the hell?!" he held out his right hand with a strangely bent out thumb. "It's broken!"

"It's not broken." Emil swiftly stood up from Cheri's lap, grabbed Norris's injured hand in both hers and before he could jump away, there was yet another crack followed by a pained whine. "It was dislocated," Emil said with a bright, innocent smile. She let go of Norris's hand which now was perfectly normal. "Does anyone else want a kiss?" She asked with an encouraging smile.

"You're frightening them, sweet Em." Cheri giggled, glancing at Law. It was a pity that such fine man denied a fact so obvious to Cheri's okama eye - he had fallen head first into a bottomless pit called 'amore'. Even now, Cheri could see that captain was fighting with himself not to admit that Emil's act amused him. But Law wasn't the troublesome part of this perfect match - sooner or later his analyzing mind would agree with his heart - but Emil was gracefully dancing on the cover of indifference, which she, or someone, had placed over her own pit.

"You think so?," Emil said in wonder and tilted her head a little. "Anyway, thank you for delicious breakfast Cheri," she said cheerfully and hugged the cook. "Bepo, if we surface today, would you like to have a spar?"

"I'd love to, Emil," the bear answered with a toothy smile.

"Great!" She called out, throwing her hands up. "I'll go tell Flynn to surface," she announced happily and turned to the exit. "Because at this depth we will run on sea kings," she added only because Law opened his mouth to tell something – probably 'it's my crew, don't order around'. She had made enough fun of him for today and he still had a meeting with Monica scheduled for this evening.

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A/N: You know... I started to think why Emil should destroy her cover and jump into the pit... conclusion: I don't know o.o

I think Emil will tell her story in... chapter 19. Maybe later, but surely not earlier.

Btw, I wasn't planning to make Cheri a cupid, but I like how it turned out (such effects when you only have a vary brief plan xD)

**NightHunterDeath:** _Law's head says 'no'_

**Dhalmi93:** I want that card too! I created it! And thank you *blushes like Emil*

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: **hehehe, I'm glad you think so xD  
and thank you for pointing out typos


	17. Chapter 17

Emil of course won the encounter with Bepo, but unlike with Law, she matched the bear's pace - blocking, dodging, punching and kicking as much as the other side. Nevertheless, she was merciless and made use of every mistake, every stumble or hesitation, patiently showing Bepo all his openings and suggesting how to avoid them. In the end, Bepo was lying on the deck, completely out of breath and with his tongue sticking out, but definitely pleased. Emil on the other hand was only slightly tired and, in equally happy spirit, sat next to Bepo, leaning against him and ruffling the fur on his head. Then Cheri asked her for a duel - Emil even brought her daggers from her cabin to match the cook's double-knife style. The next was Flynn, then Jess, Penguin and Shachi. After that was lunch - as loud and cheerful as always as the rest of the crew got completely over their morning fear toward Emil and argued about the order in which they were going to be tested by her. Even Norris - although still a little bit wary - wanted to have his duel time with her.

Fortunately for Law, no one came up with an idea of him fighting with Emil, so he could comfortably sit on the deck and simply enjoy the warming sun, a cooling breeze and Bepo's soft belly against his back. Law didn't even notice when his curiosity kicked in and pulled his lazy gaze to the fighters, but he did notice that Emil was not only fast and agile, but also incredibly flexible and her style was based on those three traits. Emil was dodging or redirecting almost all attacks, waiting patiently for a good occasion, which she was immediately using, striking for vital points with a chirurgical precision. But even so, there were times when she decided to block a full blow, showing that her strength wasn't far behind other features. Nonetheless, she never revealed her limits.

They reached the Sumbucus Port, when the sun was low over the horizon. Sumbucus itself was more like a small town than a village, but when Shachi pointed that out, Emil dismissed him with a simple explanation that it was a village when she used to live there. Emil lead them all, up the main road. Inhabitants were throwing the odd group only brief, curious glances, before calmly coming back to their conversations or actions, occasionally offering Emil a greeting to which she always responded with a cheerful smile. When Emil stopped, they were standing in front a big and neat, three-storey tavern with a light gray seal on its signboard. Through two big and open windows they could see many rather cheerful customers, hear a fast, catching music and smell an aroma of roasted meat.

"Welcome to the Silver Seal," Emil said with a happy smile and reached out her hand toward the open entrance. Miki, being a hyperactive child he was, immediately ran inside, soon followed by twins and his mother. Then, laughing at those four, the rest came inside. "By the way mister Trafalgar," Emil started when Law was passing her, "whatever you do to Monica, I'll do the same to you, but worse," she announced with a calm smile, readjusted a strap of her big backpack and enthusiastically walked past the wide doorframe. "Koala!" Emil called out, dropping the backpack to the wooden floor, in the middle of a way to a counter.

A head of a blue haired girl with rectangular glasses stuck up from behind the tall counter. "Emil!" she shouted happily. The head disappeared just to show up at the side of the counter with the rest of chubby body. "Emil!" she called out once again, running to the chuckling woman who waited for her with wide open arms. Repeating the name third time, the girl jumped into Emil's embrace and they both swirled few times, laughing like idiots. "You're late!" the girl shouted angrily, slapping Emil's head. "You were supposed to come a week ago!" Now her eyes started to tear up. "I was worried!"

"Sorry, Koala," Emil apologized with a chuckle and hugged her closely. "I had unexpected guests. But I brought you something." Emil pointed at Law who still stood in the doorway with Bepo. "Mister Trafalgar, please meet Monica, Koala this is…"

"Traffy!" Monica exclaimed, throwing her hands up and after a brief moment, she was already running with a bright smile toward the feared Surgeon of Death. "Traffy! It's Traffy! Traffy!" The moment the pair of rather chubby arms was wrapped around Law's leg, he already knew why Emil made everything she could to prevent him from hurting this girl. "What's your favorite drink?! Do you want to become the Pirate King?! How long will you stay here?! When did you meet Emil?!" this endless, high-pitched stream instantly ignited within him a desire to kill someone.

Law leaned down and unhooked the constantly talking girl from his leg. Holding her by the back of a navy dress, he lifted her up to his eyelevel and placed his free hand on her never stopping lips. "Be quiet," he whispered coldly, piercing her baby blue eyes with his own, stormy gaze. Monica's eyes widened, but it wasn't a fear which filled them, but amazement – Monica was completely delighted. Law growled in irritation and threw the girl to Bepo. Then he walked to the counter where Emil carelessly talked with a woman who looked like Monica's thirty-something, purple-haired version. "You said you'll hold her down, Emil-ya," Law barely managed to say it calmly.

"I said I'll TRY to hold her down," Emil reminded him with a sweet smile. "Anyway, mister Trafalgar, please meet Jaya Ceral," Emil pointed at the woman, "the owner of this place and my self-proclaimed 'big sis'."

"Nice to meet you, mister Traffy," Jaya greeted him with a gentle smile, completely ignoring a small twitch of Law's eye. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Like everyone here," Emil snorted. "So, will you take care of them?" Emil asked Jaya, nodding her head toward a table where her circus guest gathered.

"Of course I will Emy," the woman answered calmly, ruffling Emil's hair and gaining a pleased expression on her pale face. "What about Traffy's crew?" Somehow the straightforward way Jaya said Law's nickname made it sound even sillier.

"The Heart Pirates eat and drink on me," Emil said loud enough for all of them to hear and it resulted in a thrilled cheer in her honor. Emil laughed and reached out her hands to slightly confused Bepo who was still holding Monica. The girl had changed the target of her questions, but Law was still the main topic. "Come here, Koala." Monica let go of Bepo and hugged Emil. "And Koala…" She gently grabbed the girls jaw and forced to reverse her baby blue gaze from Law. "Mister Trafalgar doesn't like being touched. But stay with me and I'll make sure you'll be around him. Ok?" Emil asked with a chuckle.

"Alright." Monica called out enthusiastically and turned her head back to Law. "Hey Traffy, Traffy. Is that true you attacked a celestial dragon? What do you think of Captain Kidd? And Monkey D Luffy? Do you like him?" she rambled on and on.

Law once again placed his palm on the girl's lips to silence her at least for a while and leaned closer to Emil. "I'd prefer you keep her away from me," he whispered coldly ever through he knew this intimidating tone had no such effect on Emil.

Emil chuckled at this statement and directed at Law clearly amused look. She then took unnecessarily big breath to utter just one word "suffer." Emil had a great time – Law finally had to take a taste of something she had had to stand for over half a year now.

"Emil, why do you call Monica Koala?" Bapo asked, looking curiously at the girl. Law at the same time decided to sit on one of many tall stools at the counter and ask for a drink. The best he could do was to try to ignore the blue imp.

Emil laughed shortly and let go of Monica, who due to her arms and legs wrapped around Emil's torso, didn't fall even one millimeter. "I'm not really sure, Bepo," Emil said with a light shrug, before sitting on a stool next to Law. Bepo took the other one.

"You know Emil-ya," Law started pointing at his crew. They had a great time, already befriending with other guests, eating, drinking, singing and attempting to flirt. "You're going to blow a bundle." He reached for a mug of beer which Jaya had placed in front him and took a deep swing of this cold drink. Yeah, getting drunk was a good solution for this never ending, high-pitched ramble next to him.

"Why does your jolly roger looks like that? Hey, Traffy are you thinking about some other awesome attack?"

"Pft," Emil shrugged carelessly. "I'm pretty rich."

"By the way Emil," Jaya reached under the counter and pulled out a black and white, folded piece of clothing, "I have a small gift for you." She placed in on the counter.

Emil turned her head to the gift and just blindly stared at it, but after a while her eyes widened with fascination and lips stretched in a gleeful smile. "I love it." She jumped from the stool, peeled Monica out and placed her on it. "Get out, Bor," she said before reaching to the collar of her hoodie and swiftly pulling it off, at the same moment as the sparrow flew out the hood. Then she reached for the gift, unfolded it and quickly pulled on. It was a hoodie – a quite fitting one – it was black, but with numerous, white patches in various shapes which formed a skeleton-like pattern. And as Law noticed it was pretty accurate with hip bones and twenty pairs of ribs going around the torso; spine only on the back; humerus, radius and ulna visible on the sides of sleeves – it kind of looked like a skeleton with black stuffing. "How do I look?" Emil asked with a huge grin, pulling on the hood with a skull on top and halves of jaw at sides; it was so deep it partly covered Emil's delighted eyes.

"Awesome!" Monica called out and clapped twice. "I came up with this pattern!" she boasted cheerfully.

"Thank you!" Emil pulled Monica into a tight hug and after one quick spin around, sat on the stool with the girl back on her lap. "Thank you Jaya," she added quieter, but equally joyfully to the woman.

"Hey Traffy! Traffy!" And there goes Law's moment of peace. "What do you think about Emil? Is that true that you eat women?"

"Yes," Law immediately leaned down and grabbed Monica's face with his both palms. "Yes, I indeed do," he said in husky voice, bringing her flushed face closer to his own. "And you smell like a good appetizer," Law stuck out his tongue, placed it on Monica's jawline and slowly traced it up her cheek to the temple. When Law backed away, all Monica represented with herself was a completely flushed and stunned… silence. Law could swear there was a small puff of steam from her head when her overheated brain decided to pass out and her body went completely limp in Emil's arms.

Emil snorted, but very soon after that she exploded with loud laugher. "Pedophile!" she called out between two attacks, barely catching her breath. She swung on the stool and fell backward, but hitting the hardwood floor didn't affecter her state at all. "That was brilliant!" she called out after a longer laughing fit, waving her legs above her head and pressing the small, limp body to her already hurting stomach. "Jaya, please don't kill him," Emil asked, now only giggling. Law looked back at the mother who stood on the other side of the counter with a knife in hand and murderous intentions in eyes. "She's alright," Emil informed, sitting up and wiping tears from her eyes. "Just passed out due too much excitement," she stood up, holding Monica in one arm and using the other hand to massage her hurting cheeks. "I'll carry her to the bed," Emil announced with a chuckle and walked to a door next to the counter.

"If something happened to my daughter," Jaya started quietly, pointing the tip of the knife at Law's throat. "I'll ask Emil to skin you."

"Like Emil-ya said, she's fine," Law said calmly and took a swing from his mug. "But I don't graduate she would if she continued shooting those ridiculous questions." Law closed his eyes, enjoying the silence… as silent at it can be in a room full of cheerful people.

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A/N: It's twenty minutes after midnight here... My eyes hurts, I'm going to sleep...

**Dhalmi93:** Thank you, you have no idea how many times I deleted half of a chapter because at some point I realized that someone is completely out of character.

**NightHunterDeath:** But his mind screams while heart barely whispers. And now it's going to be 20th chapter.

**10th Squad 3rd Seat:** Thank you for pointing that out.

**Wings-chan: **I'm glad you think so :)


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I've found somewhere that One Piece takes place in years 1522 and 1524... The Heart Pirates only entered the New World, so let's say it's the end of 1522... Have fun.

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"Boo," Emil leaned against Law's back; a sudden movement caused him to spill a little of beer. "I'm going to visit my parents, do you want to come with me?" she asked with her chin placed on Law's shoulder. Waiting for an answer she turned her head few times, looking between the man and the bear. Law took yet another swing of golden drink, placed the mug on countertop and stood up, completely ignoring Jaya's icy glare. He let go of a small sigh – he hadn't got even a slightest bit tipsy, but on the other hand the main reason to get drunk was already gone and he was going to finally get some information about Emil. "Jaya, please take care of the rest," Emil asked with a smile, grabbed Law's hand and Bepo's paw and pulled them both from the counter and outside.

Law pulled out his hand from Emil's grip as soon as they walked out on a chilly air; it was slowly getting dark. "What happened that you were taken into slavery?" Law asked bluntly, watching Emil's black-white back as she cheerfully outran him, pulling Bepo with both her hands. She was leading them further up the main road.

Emil turned to Law and going backward she presented him a gleeful smile. "No telling," she said simply, causing Law's eye to twitch in irritation.

"I've met with your annoying friend, Emil-ya" Law said quietly, catching up to Emil in few, swift strides. "And no one got hurt," he added leaning down over her, so their faces were rather close and Emil's serene expression only fueled his annoyance. "What about your 'I always keep my wopf." Law was silenced as Emil swiftly placed her cold palm over his lips. He frowned and reached to her hand to pull it down, but with her other palm on the back of his head she had a pretty firm grip. With the corner of his eye Law noticed that Bepo was at least confused: with his mouth open and paws up he jumped with his sight between them, not knowing if he should interfere or not.

"I do keep my promises mister Trafalgar," Emil said in a calm tone and with warm smile, before Law attempted to use some more force. "I promised to answer your questions and I will," Emil assured, letting go of Law's head. "But I also promised to do to you the same you did to Monica and you ignored her questions." Emil took Bepo's paw and pulled him further up the road. They had already reached the edge of the town, as the Silver Seal was on the outskirts itself. "So you have to wait until tomorrow," Emil added cheerfully and gracefully jumped on a narrow and low wall made of stone.

Law sighed and, slowing down a little, shoved his hands deep into his hoodie pockets. He knew he wouldn't win with Emil and fighting with her would only postpone the moment he would finally satisfy his sick curiosity. Curiosity which Law cursed numberless time over the past few days. Law took a deep breath of cold air to calm his rushed mind and leaned his head back, trying to regain his collected self. Looking up at the purplish sky, Law wondered how was this possible that this pair could ruffle his feathers so much. Law looked down at the road, it leaded to the top of small hill, where stood an old looking church with cemetery. Speeding up a little to catch up with Bepo and Emil who was doing cartwheels and backflips on the wall, Law thought that even though she refused to answer his questions today, he would get to know something about her past.

Law's face twitched a little as he realized something. "Emil-ya!" he called out, gaining Emil's attention – standing on her hands, she directed her blind gaze back at him. "Are you going to lick me to?"

An impish smile spread across Emil's face and she chuckled shortly. "It the most unexpected moment," she admitted happily and lightly jumped down the wall.

"If you have to," Law sighed, "I'd prefer you do it now."

"I prefer not to," Emil said with a chuckle and tugged lightly at Bepo's jumpsuit. "Hey, Bepo, can I sit on your shoulders?"

"Uh, yes Emil," Bepo handed Emil his right paw and helped to jump on his back. After Emil seated herself with monkey-like agility she wrapped her arms around Bepo's head and nuzzled her cheek to the soft fur with a pleased smile. "Can you scratch me, Emil?" Bepo asked shyly and his black lips stretched in equally pleased smile as soon as Emil started to make wonders with her lean fingers.

"Would you like to join, mister Trafalgar?" Emil asked lazily, after a while.

"I'll pass," Law answered absentmindedly. They almost reached the cemetery and he could see rows of crosses over the brick wall. Some crosses were made of wood, some of stone; some were black, other were white or brown; some were decorated with flowers, but mostly they were empty.

"And I was getting cold in the back," Emil murmured in disappointment and leaned backward, lightly landing on the ground after a backflip. She walked to a simple, wooden gate and opened it with a quiet protest of hangers. "There is a lantern if you want," she said calmly, tapping her finger on a lid of a small wooden box attached to the wall on the other side of the gate. She unhurriedly walked between tombstones, while Bepo waited for Law to take out and light the old-fashioned lantern. After a while the captain and his first mate joined Emil who stopped with sad smile in front of two, unremarkable crosses made of dark wood. Bringing closer the light, Law read an inscription engraved on a plate on the closer cross 'In memory of Utter Ruben – 30.05.1476 – 15.07.1506.' Shifting the light a little, Law looked at the other plate. 'In memory of Utter Rosalina – 17.08.1478 – 15.07.1506.'

"Utter Emilia," Law whispered with a small smile, somehow glad that he finally got to know her surname – and it kind of suited her.

"Yes, that's me," Emil said with a not-happy chuckle. It was somehow strange to see her in such nostalgic state for longer than a blink of an eye. "Admit it, you would like to be Utter Law." This time there was a spark of happiness in her voice.

"Sounds nice," Law admitted absentmindedly, looking at graves around. He frowned a little, noticing that the date fifteenth of July sixteen years ago, repeated on many of them. "What happened that so many people died on the same day?"

"Pirates raided our village," Emil answered sadly. She crouched down between her parents graves and lightly traced her fingertips across the plates. "In the end half of us was killed."

Law glanced back at the town, surprised. "And they don't hold a grudge?"

"No," Emil admitted with a quiet chuckle and stood up. "Because it weren't pirates who killed them." Emil turned to Law. In the flicking light from the lantern, her almost completely white, watery eyes were glittering.

"Emil," Bepo whined sadly, stepped closer to her and awkwardly placed his paw on her head. She took it in her both hands and, with joyless smile attempted to wrap her arms around Bepo's much bigger body.

"I'm alright Bepo, Thank you," Emil said softly and sniffed a little. She then turned her face to Law. "But I'm sure mister Trafalgar would like to meet two more people." Holding Bepo's paw, Emil leaded them a little bit further, where newer graves were. After a while of slaloming, Emil stopped in front two crosses made of light stone. Illuminating them, Law read two inscriptions: 'In memory of Eagle Zack – 28.08.1498 – 7.04.1516' and 'In memory of Eagle Stelea – 29.03.1516 – 07.04.1516'. Law raised his eyebrows in wonder – whoever this little girl was, she lived barely nine days and considering that the date of her death was the same as the man, he thought that they most probably were killed. Ten years of the difference – it couldn't be a coincidence – Emil's parents had been killed at the beginning of her slavery and those two at the end of it - and they had been important enough to fill Emil with lust for murder.

"Emil," Bepo started quietly, a concern clear in his voice, "is everything alright?" Law turned to the other two. Bepo held his arms around Emil and was looking down at her. Law noticed a fresh trail of tears at her cheek, but her expression was completely different than earlier - instead of sadness there was alertness. Emil stood motionlessly with stern face turned to the town.

"Yes, Bepo," she answered after a while. "For now, everything's all right."

This statement worried Law a little, but he decided to ask his previous question anyway. "Those two," Law pointed at the graves, "who were they for you, Emil-ya?"

"Zack was my best friend," Emil started slowly. Law noticed a small, but definitely angry frown on her face. She placed her hand on Bepo's arm and gently opened his embrace. "And Stelea was our daughter. Sorry…" she said, stepping toward the exit, "I have to go," with that brief apology she jumped forward, in a high speed ran between graves to reach the distant brick wall in few seconds and jump over it on her straight way toward the town.

"A daughter," Bepo choked out. Just like Law, he was surprised at this information. At the age of seventeen Emil had had a child. But as dark as it could sound - the little Stelea wasn't running away from them and wasn't going to run away anytime soon, completely unlike her mother just now.

"Let's go, Bepo," Law said briefly, before running to the exit. Emil hadn't told them to follow, so whatever had happened it probably had nothing to do with the rest of the crew, or at least it was nothing they couldn't handle, but still the Silver Seal was the first place they decided to check. And as they neared, they got completely sure, seeing panicked people getting out the tavern.

Beside the Heart Pirates and the circus troupe, the only guests in the tavern was a dozen of now completely immobilized by pirates men. Standing among overturned tables and broken plates, shouting at each other to let go or to shut up, they all were looking or glancing at Emil who stood at the counter with her back to the entrance and was quietly talking with Jaya.

"Jeres!" Emil said out loud, turning to a brown-haired man at his fifties, held flat on the floor by Jean Bart. He looked up at Emil with an anger visible in his drunkard eyes. "Jeres, who send you here?" Emil asked calmly, leaning down over the called man. This was yet another kind of calm expression Emil had – Law had seen calmness with a happy tone, calmness with a hint of sadness and calmness which covered an irritation, but this one was completely different – it was a balloon inflated with a cold fury.

"No one send me, you little bitch," Jeres snorted at her angrily and fidgeted under Jean Bert body as if this could help him to get free. "I'm the boss here!"

"Jean," Emil looked up at the pirate and smiled warmly. "Let him go, please." As soon as he stood up, Emil grabbed Jeres's collar and forcefully pulled him to the empty center of the room. When he tried to stand up, Emil tripped him back. When he tried to punch her, she gracefully went of his way, turned him around and punched in kidneys, sending him back on the floor. "Now Jeres," Emil said quietly, bringing the man up by the collar and directing her blind, partly lidded eyes to his bloodshot ones, "we both know, you are way too stupid to organize this. So? Who's your boss?"

Jeres spat at Emil's face. "Burn in hell, whore!" He shouted, getting up on his legs and overgrowing Emil by more than one head. But he bent in half with a roar of pain as soon as a rapid punch hit his crotch. Every other man in the room hissed at a mare imagination of that feeling, but before they all could get over it the air shook with another roar as Emil stomped on Jeres's ankle, breaking it.

"I'll ask you one more time, Jeres," Emil said just a tone louder than the man's pathetic groans and wiped off the saliva. She forced Jeres on his knees and straightened up his spine, pushing her own knee against his back and pulling his head up with an arm under his jaw. "And I want you to think through your answer," Emil reached to the back of her belt and pulled out one of her many throwing knifes, "Because there won't be more times." Emil hovered her armed hand just above Jeres's face with the tip just barely apart from his right pupil. "Who. Sent. You. Here. Jeres?" After those words a silence fell over the room. Everybody were looking at the barely fidgeting, crying man, at a calm woman who utterly overpowered him or at the completely still blade and there was a wide range of emotions in their eyes, from an overwhelming fear to a quiet amusement.

Jeres opened his mouth and at first only croaked before an understandable sound left them, "Z-Zolien."

Emil's eyes widened at this name, but they very soon came back to the relaxed, half lidded state. Not loosening her grip on Jeres's throat, Emil gently moved her armed hand from over his face on his forehead. "Thank you, Jeres," Emil whispered to his ear and this sound was followed by equally loud crack as she broke his spine with swift motion of both hands.

"Zolien. Huh?" Emil straightened up at the same time as Jeres's limp body fell to the floor. "Sorry about this mess, Jaya," Emil said with an authentic worry, stepping over the corpse on her way to the counter.

"It's alright Emy," Jaya waved her hand to dismiss this concern. She was pale, but still rather calm, as if used to events like that. "It's not really more than after a big party," she joked weakly. Then she sighed, "Zolien, yes? What are you going to do Emy?"

"Pay her a visit, of course," Emil said it as if this indeed was the most obvious thing to do. "And make a small show for her. Say Jaya," Emil added, tilting her head a little, in wonder, "can I borrow your old scythe?"

"Yes, I'll bring it for you," Jaya slowly headed to the door next to the counter. She let go of an joyless laugh, "now I'm kind of glad mister Traffy caused Moni to pass out."

"Not only you," Emil admitted before Jaya closed the door behind herself. "Mister Trafalgar," Emil turned to Law, who had sat comfy on a bench next to the entrance and had been enjoying the whole spectacle. "I'm going to visit my dear stepsister. Would you like to accompany me and Bor, and see how I deal with rats which gets into my precious terrarium?"

This sentence left the rest completely confused, but Law understood its meaning and stood up. "With pleasure, Emil-ya," he said with a smile – it was going to be funny.

* * *

A/N 2: And now you should know why Emil is (will be) called the Death xD

**Dhalmi93:** Thank you and you're welcome. It's a pleasure to write if someone appreciate it :)

**Wings-chan:** I came up with this scene a looooong time ago... It's nice to finally let the world know at least few of my many stupid ideas. I wonder what would be Law's reaction if his own kids behaved like that xD

**NightHunterDeath: **In the chapter 20 will be the rest of Emil's past (probably a series of flashbacks - still not sure); Law will admit to himself that he's in love a little (much) later... then he have to make Emil to fall for him... get married... have kids... conquer the world... find a lady bear for Bepo... find a mizu mizu no mi (long time ago, in my first project of Emil, she was a human who ate mizu mizu no mi). And I'm kidding, I won't write about half of those things.


	19. Chapter 19

"Oi, Emil!" Penguin called out. "What should we do with them?" he pointed at a prisoner he was sitting on, alongside Jess. The blonde man was fearfully glancing at Emil or at Jeres.

Emil turned to Law. "Do you need some spare organs?" she asked with a genuine kindness.

Law looked around at eleven men who now started to panic and tried to escape - to no avail. Each one of them looked like an old drunkard – bloodshot eyes with dark circles, red noses, missing teeth, one appearance messier than another. "I doubt I would find here something I'd like to use," he said finally, but prisoners apparently didn't hear him as they desperately continued trying to get free.

Emil walked to the door next to the counter and opened them just a moment before Jaya could do the same thing, as she stood with her hand reached out and eyebrows raised in surprise. "Thank you, Jaya," Emil said with a smile, reaching for a fairly big scythe. Then she stepped back to the center of the room, where she hit the slightly curved shaft against the floor. "Gentlemen," Emil started with a content tone, once everyone went quiet. "Right behind those doors to the left is a closet," Emil pointed behind, where Jaya still stood. "Inside it, you'll find cleaning supplies and my suggestion is as follows: you'll take them, clean this room and get free alive or I'll kill you. Any questions?" she ended with a pleased smile.

The men looked at themselves. It was clear that one thing was bugging all of them as they constantly were glancing at the dead body in the middle of the room. "And…" started a man held down to a table by Cheri's knifes. "And t-then you would kill us a-anyway."

"I won't," Emil admitted, shaking her head in 'no' and shrugging a little. "Bepo, will you please keep your eye on them?" she asked turning to the first mate. "Once they are done with cleaning, let those who worked go, but keep the rest. I'll deal with them when mister Trafalgar and I come back. Can I count on all of you?" Emil finished, looking around at all Heart Pirates.

"Of course Emil," Bepo answered with a happy smile and was soon followed by similar, enthusiastic responses from the other crewmates.

"Of course if your captain doesn't mind," Emil interrupted them, looking happily at the said man, who waited at the entrance, leaning against the doorframe and with his sword in hand.

Law snorted quietly. He could swear that this woman was able to read his mind – he just wanted to reprimand her for ordering around his own crew without asking him. "No, I don't mind Emil-ya." Why should he disagree? His little minions seemed rather eager to do the supervisor job, sending them back to the submarine would be pointless.

"Then I believe this settles everything. Jaya," Emil turned back to the older woman, "please, take good care of my friends and don't go easy on those gentlemen." As an answer Jaya only saluted briefly with a small smile. "Then, mister Trafalgar," Emil turned to Law, "shall we go?"

Law pushed himself away from the doorframe and lazily lifted his hand, showing at the outside. "Ladies first."

Emil chuckled, lifted the scythe and rested it on the shoulder. "Have fun boys," she said cheerfully, going outside. "We'll see again in few hours." She stepped on the road, followed by Law, Bor and happy goodbyes mixed with quieter orders. "Strzebor," Emil said calmly and the sparrow turned into a huge crow. He cawed happily and sat on the road in front of them. "Strzebor doesn't like when someone pulls his feathers," Emil explained, jumping gracefully on the bird's back. Once she sat on his neck, she offered Law her hand for help. "So if you have to hold on something - grab me," Emil continued once Law was seated behind her – and it wasn't really comfortable as Bor's neck was rather thick. "Keep your head low, but most preferably just lie down on me." Bor stood up and unfolded his wings, ready to fly, but Emil held him back, caressing his long, pitch black feathers. "Around half an hour journey awaits us and we won't be really able to hear each other, so any questions?"

Emil turned around her upper body and looked up at Law, who was looking down at her, so their faces were pretty close now, but Law was probably the only one who took notice of that. "Who's Zolien?" Law asked, although he was quite sure he would be dismissed once again.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later," Emil reached up to Law's hat and took it off, but instead of wearing it herself, she put it between them. "Hold it here or it will fall off." Then she turned around to the other side and enthusiastically waved at pirates who gathered at the entrance to the tavern.

"Have a nice date, you love birds," Cheri called out as a goodbye, causing Penguin and Shachi to snicker, Bepo and Jess to smile widely, Flynn to smug and Jaya to frown in confusion. Law scowled, but Emil chuckled and squeezed her legs around Bor's neck, causing him to spread out his wings and jump, before Law could say anything.

The sudden speed up pulled Law backwards and he instinctively grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a collar of Emil's hoodie. Law's guts flew up to his throat and then they all hit the bottom of his abdomen. Using the fact that now he was right behind Emil, Law wrapped his free arm around her and pulled himself closer – Emil was leaning over Bor's neck so low, Law was almost lying on her. When Strzebor hit the air with his huge wings once again, effects on Law's body weren't as big – now he was able to feel Emil's effortless movements under him and mirror them in time.

After a while, when Strzebor reached a satisfying height and speed, the only force which was going against Law was air resistance. The wind was roaring in Law's ears, ruffling his hair, tugging his clothes and ripping away the whole warmth from his skin. Intentionally or not, Law pulled himself to Emil even closer – she was warm, relatively steady and his head fitted in the crook of her neck just perfect. Emil turned her head a little, so their cheeks rubbed against each other and she reached behind to grab Law's nodachi which he was still holding. Tugging at it lightly, she nonverbally told him to let go and once he did, she placed the sword between herself and Bor, right next to the shaft of the scythe. Not sure what to do with now free hand, Law simply slid it beside the other, around Emil's thinner, warm torso.

When Law got used to the wind, he started to look around. Strzebor pretty much obscured everything below them, but as they flew relatively low and there was almost full moon on the clear sky, Law could clearly see the landscape around. Rectangular fields quickly scrolled beneath them, occasionally interrupted by much darker patches of forest or strips of roads. At some point, Law noticed faint lights far away to the right. It was a small town, even smaller than Sumbucus, probably just a village. But the next light he noticed, started as a yellow hue on the dark horizon in front them. Later it turned into countless lights of a huge city – streetlights, windows, store displays and many more, everything cramped within a tall wall going around a large hill. On the other side, almost hugged to the wall, was a big castle with a lot of thin towers and turrets. It was surrounded by a thick park which could be called a forest. Part of it was lightened up by colorful lamps, but much bigger part was completely dark. And - going around the whole city - that's where Strzebor was carrying Emil and Law.

Strzebor flew just over the white wall and further over the tops of the trees. Slowing down he reached a clearing with a pond and skillfully landed near its rocky bank. "Thank you, Strzebor," Emil said warmly, caressing the bird's feathers and gaining a quiet, but pleased caw. "How are you doing, mister Trafalgar?" she asked, pressing against Law's chest as she sat up and effortlessly swung her leg over Bor's neck.

"Could be better, but I'm not complaining, Emil-ya," Law answered, taking his sword back and watching as Emil gracefully slid down Strzebor's side and lightly landed on the ground. Feeling sore muscles in his legs, Law was sure – he could get down from that ridiculously big bird either gracefully or relatively painlessly. Mirroring Emil's previous movements, Law swung his leg over Bor's neck and his face twitched at a strong contraction in his lower limbs. Clutching his teeth, Law slid down the black feathers and managed to land of a soft grass without tripping over. But it hurt. Taking in a deep breath and keeping his laidback expression, Law straightened his legs. Only now, looking at Emil, Law noticed she was holding a rather strange face – as if she was earnestly trying not to laugh. "Is something wrong, Emil-ya?"

"Please, say it," she whispered with a chuckle. "Say what you're thinking right now."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Emil-ya," Law said calmly. 'I'll never sit on that damn bird again!'

"Oh, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, mister Trafalgar." Now Emil was openly smiling. "So, what is your fine ass telling? Ready for a quick walk or would it prefer to stay here a little while?" she asked with a huge grin, leaning a little toward Law with her both hands on the scythe shaft as a support.

Law just glared at her for a while. Emil was perfectly aware of his sore muscles, that went without a doubt. Was trying to keep cool in front her worth the pain? Not really, his imagine was already shattered into tiny pieces in her blind eyes. "Then maybe you'll answer me now who's this Zolien?" Law asked calmly, sitting on a nearby stone.

"Zolien Poinciana, my stepsister," Emil lifted the scythe a little and spun it effortlessly. "A short lesson of political science: territory of the Kingdom Floris includes the entire island Floris and few smaller ones around." Still spinning or waving the scythe, Emil wandered a little bit away from Law and Strzebor. "It's capital is Orchid and it's officially ruled by the Royal Orchid Family." Emil suddenly stopped the scythe, pointing it in the direction of the castle. "Officially, because the Poinciana family has the power behind the throne." She swung the scythe in the opposite direction. "There is their manor and that's where we will head later." Now, Emil went back to swinging and whirling the scythe as if she was allowing herself to get used to this weapon. "Zolien is a current head of the family. Her father, Ramzen, commanded a small squad which… helped in a fight against pirates during their raid sixteen years ago."

"What was he doing there?" Law interrupted. The most important man in the kingdom rushing with a help to a little village didn't sound very likely.

"He was on his way from one vacation house to another." Emil answered calmly, but with a slight frown. Either she didn't like that topic or she wasn't happy with her little training – although it went very well, Emil whirled the tool with ease, gracefully killing one imaginary opponent after another. "The Poinciana family is a bunch of merciless hyenas, but they create a completely different imagine. Taking in a small, cute girl whose parents were brutally killed was a big plus in the eyes of the society. And yes, Ramzen didn't have to do this; he wasn't planning to do such thing, but then he noticed I was able to use haki." Emil snorted shortly, without happiness. "A small brat who can use both kenbunshoku and busoshoku haki and is willing to kill – you don't see that often. Bor." Emil reached out her hand and Strzebor – shrinking to his sparrow self – flew to her. "Can we go to the manor, mister Trafalgar?" she asked, placing the bird on her shoulder. "I'll tell the rest on our way."

Law stood up. His legs still hurt, but much less than at the beginning. He reached out in the more or less direction of the manor. "Lead the way, Emil-ya."

Emil rested the scythe on her free shoulder and started walking down a wide, flat path. "I've never had much contact with Zolien, she was mostly outside the Kingdom, climbing up the ladder of hierarchy in Marines, but when we did meet she treated me just like everyone else – a dirty rag-doll in a fine mansion which can be throw the dogs." Emil said that in completely plain voice – not happy, not sad, not angry nor pained. "Kermanilinian was Ramzen's second child, a little less intelligent, but with bigger imagination than Zolien. He was responsible for training me, although he was only five years older than me. Jeres worked for him and was helping with me, that's where I knew him from." Emil chuckled. "When I killed Kermanilian, I killed a lot of his subordinates as well, but Jeres wasn't there at that time. Lucky bastard."

"Not so lucky anymore," Law commented briefly. He could already catch a tall fence and a big, rather fancy manor behind the trees. Emil snorted, but frowned, shaking her new weapon a little. "Something's wrong with your scythe, Emil-ya?"

"Nothing I couldn't fix," she answered absentmindedly, reaching to the tang of the scythe. She pulled out from behind her belt a throwing knife and, using it as a screwdriver, tightened one of three screws. "I've just never used scythe as a weapon and I have to tell – it's not very handy".

"What about coming back to your knives, Emil-ya?" Law raised his eyebrows at the obviousness of that choice.

"Nah," she said happily and threw the scythe back over her shoulder, "I've told you I want to make a unforgettable show." She threw her skull-like hood over her head. "At least for those I'll let live," she added with a cheerful grin.

Law smirked a little. It the darkness, in this hoodie and with a scythe, Emil looked like a personification of death. A rather happy death. "If you wanted to make a show then why you didn't flew straight to the manor?" Law asked, although he was kind of grateful she hadn't done that. 'The Surgeon of Death attacks the Poinciana's manor, walking like a duck' - Emil could laugh at this for a week or longer and knowing her so far, Law was surprised she hadn't taken this occasion. Therefore he was even more surprised when she looked at him like an idiot.

"I can't make fun of you in front Marines," Emil said with a snicker. "My favorite bear's captain has to be seen as a cool guy and I know how it pains after the first, long flight on Bor," she explained in a happy tone. "And you are doing surprisingly well," she added with a grin, patting Law's shoulder and ran away before he could comment it somehow.

Watching as Emil, almost childishly, ran toward the big gate, Law wondered if he was doing better than anyone else before him or if she had so low opinion about him.

* * *

A/N: Some more fun of Law! xD

**NightHunterDeath:** Mizu means water. At first it was going to be logia, then paramecia, but in the end Emil become a half fishman :)

**Wings-chan:** ... do I still have to answer?

**Hex223:** Emil was adopted at some point (you already know which), but Stelea was her daughter.

**Dhalmi93:** Yes, she will... in the next chapter.

**deathmitress: **the world will blow out xD And thank you very much, I'm glad you like it :]

**10th Squad 3td Seat:** No one saw! Even Emil! Only I did! xD


End file.
